Project S
by CMDR-Sweeper
Summary: The best drivers from the World Cup event for street racers is hired by the World Cup sponsors to participate in helping promotion of various tuning garages as the Japanese trends are changing.The team they gave birth to was Project S.
1. Chapter 1: The late meeting

**Authors notes: This story I have been trying to fix the paragraph errors that was in the "Defeating Project D" story, there may still be some left, but I am trying to get them as accurate as possible to the word document I have written the story in.  
Oh and GTSilverShadow, if you have any comments I think you are better off emailing me rather than writing a review to this.**  
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It was afternoon in Chicago and most of the city was on the way home from work.  
However in one company building a few of the higher executives had gathered in the conference room.  
The man at the end of the table rose out of his chair.

"I am happy we all could meet at a time like this, but I have gotten an idea how to boost our sales."

A Japanese guy spoke up.

"The trends are changing, not many people use our tuning garages anymore and your special yearly venture drains our funds, what did you call it again?"

"World Cup! It is the World Cup that will help us in these difficult times."

"If you mean by broking us, then you are on the right trail." An American said at the back of the business men that had met.

"I will get right down to business then; we all know that the market in Japan pretty much affects the market in other countries when it comes to tuner gear, right? So what we will do is turn that market in our favour." The leader at the end of the table said while reaching for the remote for the projector.

"The Japanese market will be impossible to change just with words, we have tried that for a long time, and unless we change our strategies we will go bankrupt!" The Japanese guy said.

The leader switched on the monitor and rolled a few pictures of a mountain pass over the screen.

"This is the most common scene we in Japan see our tuner gear being used on, the Touge or mountain passes. There is a market for the regular street as well but that is affected by the passes as well. The recent changes in Japan have put a lot of focus on the Touge and the racing that goes on there. Under here the racing team called "Project D" have put down a trend and has gained a lot of attention."

Pictures of Project D rolled over the screen and the business men watched it with a little less satisfaction.

"I am sorry we are so simple minded, but all 15 of us that gathered here today came for a solution to our problems. Not what caused the problem." the American bursted out.

"You look for the simple answer, and that is that we defeat Project D!" The leader said we great enthusiasm.

"Sorry, but we are not racers so we cannot do that I am afraid." The Japanese said with a slight annoyance.

"I know, but that's where the World Cup event comes into play, we sponsor a major expedition with the top racers from the World Cup and we go gunning for Project D in Japan."

A Japanese man coughed a bit before he rose out of his chair.

"I have studied this phenomenon with the mountain passes for some time and to be honest, we don't have enough reputation to go up against Project D, if we challenged them directly we wouldn't get much of an impact with our sponsorship."

"EXACTLY! Thank you for bringing that up Keiichi, but I have already thought out a plan for that, we will race a few of the opponents they have raced so far and beat those. We will finish up in Gunma area on their respective home courses. After all I have named this Project S."

"Project S? May I ask what that S means if it has a meaning at all?" The American asked.

"The S stands for Superiority; we will show our products superiority as well as the skilled drivers we have been sponsoring events for."

"Have you chosen the drivers for the expedition then?" Keiichi asked.

"Yes, I have already selected the best from the World Cup to do this, however we still need to sort out the support crew for this operation, so if we decide to do this I was hoping some of you could contribute to the project in form of providing mechanics, support truck drivers and parts as well as trucks themselves."

"I got a few trucks in Tokyo that we can use for the project and drivers, my mechanics are busy at this time though." Keiichi said.

"Allright, if you can provide flight for some of the crew I got then you got a deal on some American mechanics." The American said.

"I got a lot of spare mechanics that I can assign to this project without many problems." The Japanese guy stated.

"Then we got what we need, those in favour of Project S, please rise, those who vote against remain seated."

The entire crowd rose from their chairs.

"That settles that matter then, now here is the list of drivers I have prepared."

On the screen a list of drivers was shown and Keiichi smiled from ear to ear.

"There is no way we can lose to Project D with these guys, no way in hell we can." Keiichi said.

A woman nodded from the back seat, next to the American.

"Especially with that guy up there using my products, if he loses then I know he has lost something." The woman said.


	2. Chapter 2: Enrolled in the ranks

In Turkey it was sunny weather and quite warm, as it usually was at this time of the year.However on the outskirts of the city there was a long abandoned airfield, it last saw action during World War 2 but ever since then it had been standing there to rot in the sunshine and heat.  
Until the day when Sweeper moved to Turkey, he bought the airfield for cheap and used it as his home.Today he was out in the hangar doing work on his FD, setting it up for the next season in the World Cup races.After all he couldn't afford to lose to Carlos, his arch rival.Though they were rivals they still did hang together as close friends and helped each other out whenever needed.

"Swapping sparkplugs is a pain on the FD; you have swapped them 3 times when the piston guys have done 1 swap. It costs to be efficient with low displacement." Sweeper mumbled to himself.

Sweeper completed swapping the sparkplugs and headed off to the mailbox for any new mail  
As he opened the mailbox he pulled out a letter and the newspaper, he looked at the front page of it, he didn't read the local Turkish newspaper, and it was too much hassle to read even though he had learned to speak the language.  
However the front cases on today's newspaper was nothing special but the letter caught his attention.  
As he walked towards his shack, Sweeper started opening the letter.  
As he pulled out the paper on the inside he quickly noticed it was about the World Cup.  
Sweeper also noticed there were some extra notes in the envelope.  
The letter read:

_Dear Sir._

_Seeing as the next World Cup event is still a bit off, 8 months from this date, we have a request for you.  
A new Project has been launched, Project S which is taking the best drivers in the World Cup to Japan to race on the Touge or mountain passes found there.  
We have selected you as a candidate for this Project as well as a few other drivers.  
In the envelope you will find more information regarding Project S and the other candidates.  
If you are interested in participating, please call the number noted below or send a letter to the address stated below._

_Signed, World Cup sponsors._

As Sweeper checked the rest of the notes included he noticed a lot of familiar names on the drivers listed, he also noticed that Carlos was on the list.  
As Sweeper got inside he threw the newspaper and the letter on the desk and grabbed the phone.  
He dialled a foreign number and waited for an answer.  
A guy picked up the phone.

"Hello, I am looking to talk to Carlos, tell him it is Sweeper."

"Carlos doesn't want to talk to ANYONE!" The guy said in a sharp tone.

"He will talk to me, tell him it is me." Sweeper said with a serious tone.

"Are you deaf or something? Carlos doesn't want to speak to anyone, goodbye!" The guy hung up.

Sweeper pulled the phone away from the ear and looked at it.

"That was NOT Carlos, that's for sure." Sweeper put the phone on the desk and went to check on the Calendar to see if he had any free time.

He flipped a few pages and looked over the dates; he had several months open before he had schedules he couldn't move.  
Just then his phone was ringing, Sweeper picked it up.

"Sweeper here."

"Hello my friend, it is Carlos, sorry for that idiot earlier" Sweeper could hear Carlos cursing at him in the background, cursing in Spanish.

"Have you received a letter from the World Cup sponsors?"

"Yeah, I was going to ask you about that as well, are you heading out?" Carlos asked.

"I have checked my schedule; I think I am heading over for some fun yes, could prove interesting."

"So am I, I get a chance to test my Skyline before the real deal in the World Cup begins; besides the guys we are facing are amateurs. You crushed their FD kid so badly it wasn't even funny."

"That may be a problem now; I have tutored him a bit around my driving techniques. May prove be a bad choice in the end though."

"But still his car is so low on power, even if he was like you he would still struggle."

"Don't underestimate them, but nevertheless we ain't gunning for them right away."

"Yeah, we got to nail some small timers first; well I am soon ready to go actually. All I need to is to mount the RB26 valve cover; I have done a total revamp of the engine for the mountain passes. Or to be more specific I bought another RB26, so I can swap engines for the type of race."

"Smart tactic there Carlos, there is plenty of time for engine swaps between events, and seeing as the World Cup is such a free game there is no problems at all. I am using the same tactic myself." Sweeper commented enthusiastically

"My thoughts exactly, well I got a few other things to attend to, so unless there is something else in the making I got to head out now."

"No problem at all Carlos, I got a few things to check out myself as well, see you in Japan." Sweeper hung up and dialled the number he was given, it was time to deliver the answer.


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting and greeting

Several weeks had passed since the invitation had been sent out, it was a short call but that was common in this business, the sponsors had filled the weekends with races and arranged living quarters in Japan for the crew and drivers.  
Project S was finally ready to start, it was a brutal start, the team had a race scheduled the upcoming weekend and today it was Friday.  
Thing was they had to compete on the same style Project D had been doing it, 1 day of practicing on the course prior to the race.  
It was going to be tough but the drivers didn't compete in the World Cup for nothing, after all the demands of a World Cup driver were pretty high.

As they arrived in Japan, a Japanese girl gathered them from all their flights in the arrivals hall at the airport.  
They were all waiting for the leader of this project.  
It didn't take long before a guy wearing a rather expensive suit showed up he looked over the team he was leading.  
Sweeper and Carlos were sitting next to each other surrounded by mechanics and other drivers.

"I am Keiichi Tejima, the leader of Project S and the one that has been studying the mountain pass racing world. Please welcome my assistant when it comes to mechanics, Jane Cooper."

Sweeper's face expression changed, he was surprised to see her.

"Jane, are you in on this project?" Sweeper bursted out.

"We can discuss it after Keiichi here is done talking Sweeper."

"Like I was saying earlier, Jane here is the main person on this project when it comes for engine parts and tuning, she is knowledgeable around all types of engines, but her main speciality is rotary engines. I I will deal with the opponent analysis, the mechanics will naturally be responsible for vehicle setup and servicing while the drivers will obviously do the driving."

"If you don't mind me asking Mr Tejima, but where have you arranged our living quarters for the duration of this project?" Carlos asked.

"That has been taken care of like I said earlier, we have arranged some mobile homes for you, but that is a temporary solution at the moment, we are currently in negotiations when it comes for getting apartments for you all, but until then the mobile homes is all we have to offer."

"You also arranged transportation for our cars earlier on, I am wondering where they are at the moment, I haven't seen my car since I handed it over to the guy at the airport in Turkey."

"That has been taken care of, they have been loaded up on a truck and have been taken to your mobile homes, however you will not get much time to get familiar as our first expedition takes place tonight, you will get about 1 and a half hour to sort out your gear before we have to leave. Before you ask the first opponent is the Todou School. Now if you will follow me to the bus waiting outside."

Keiichi lead the way while the drivers and mechanics picked up their bags.  
Sweeper grabbed his two bags and turned towards Carlos as he walked.

"Not exactly what you expected eh Carlos?"

"Nah, but still this will be a piece of cake; you did notice the little payment part in the contract as well right?" Carlos answered quickly.

"Oh yeah I did notice that, hard to miss, I guess we will get time to meet the rest of the crew once we get to our new homes."

"Good thing that we know the rest of the guys, now let's get moving we are lagging behind the rest of the crew."

They got onto the bus after stowing the bags in the baggage compartment below.  
The bus drove off from the airport and went outside the city to some open space where the mobile homes were parked, it wasn't exactly luxurious but that wasn't a problem.

They got off the bus and got the keys handed out by Keiichi, the mechanics shared homes which were slightly larger, but the drivers were given individual homes of smaller sizes.  
Sweeper quickly slammed the bags down and started unpacking; he was going to be staying here for a few weeks, so he might as well unpack what he was carrying.  
It took him 15 minutes to get everything where it was supposed to be before he threw the empty bags into the closet.  
Sweeper then went outside and noticed the 3 other drivers had already gotten together and the cars was being unloaded from the truck.

"Hey, you are late Sweeper, we are about to go over the cars for a pre race inspection." Carlos shouted out.

"A pre race inspection?" Sweeper asked looking a bit puzzled.

"We need to look over your engines and car setup to determine our tactics, even though you are in a higher skill level we still don't want to take any chances. We are leaving nothing to coincidence." Jane said while walking over to Sweeper.

"I guess it can't be helped." Sweeper walked over to his RX-7 and used his key to unlock the door before diving in to open the hood.

The light clunk sound was heard and as he opened the hood, Jane and Keiichi came over with a laptop.

"4 rotor NA, I am guessing you are still using that custom made 4WD system I got you? Peripheral ported, and if I remember correctly you are running fairly high compression and at a high RPM right?" Jane turned away from the engine and towards Sweeper who had moved from the door and towards the front of the car.

"Well I the dyno sheet read around 600 HP with a 12000 RPM fuel cut-off, Took some time running the ECU tuning, but it is running in its prime condition."

"If it wasn't, the parts I supplied you would be nothing, ok you noted all of that?" Jane asked Keiichi.

"Every word of it, we will need some time to set up the simulation though."

"We will do that on the way towards the Todou School." Jane said with a bit of confidence.

"Ok, that's the FD, now the blue R34 GT-R Vspec."

As the 2 moved towards the R34 who already had popped the hood and was awaiting the inspection, Sweeper was closing the hood on his FD and moving towards the guy in the red NSX Type S-Zero.  
The guy smiled when he saw Sweeper.

"What do you think Sweeper? This is going to be great fun eh?"

"You bet Chang, but what are you doing here? Didn't you retire from mountain pass racing a while back?"

"Well… You do remember that story now do you? I guess the best reason I have is that the fear and guilt I got from the Touge the last time has been outweighed by the will and the fun I felt when doing it." Chang said looking down at his shoes.

"That accident wasn't your fault; it wasn't your fault that the guy in the R33 GT-R went through the guardrail. It was your team-mate's fault; after all he was the guy who did the sabotage on that guy's brakes. And the fact that the GT-R guy liked braking late didn't do him much good either. You could have done nothing about it; it was doomed to turn out that way."

"That's what everyone has been telling me afterwards. I did kick him off the team after that incident; the sad part is that Sinjo wasn't charged with murder for that, both me and him got off the hook as the entire thing was blamed on reckless driving. That was the day I removed the supercharger and went turbo on my NSX, as I couldn't quit street racing, I just went active in highway racing."

"Well it is good to have you back Chang; after all they don't call you "The Chinese Dragon" for nothing, I have seen you drive, in the rain you have a godlike car control."

"Well, that's what everyone says."

"They are right you know, maybe we should get somebody to record your driving once, you would be surprised." Just as Sweeper was done, Chang spotted Keiichi and Jane come towards his NSX, he quickly went to open the hood.

Jane went to have a look and was impressed.

"The block is not stock, you have reinforced it haven't you? And a supercharger, a bit different than what they say about your car, they said you ran a high power turbo on it. Obviously you have made a little mountain pass weapon here. Roll cage to improve body stiffness and a well done suspension job. And some artwork as well, a dragon is painted on the side of the car. Have you disabled the VTEC with low compression?"

"No, the block can take the pressure of the charger and the normal compression so I still retain the VTEC on it."

"According to your resume you are a good driver in the rain as well?"

"Well… that…" Chang was interrupted by Sweeper as he was hesitating a bit

"Chang is a damn good driver in the rain, I have seen him drive in the rain and his control is godlike, he and the NSX are working together like a team."

"Ok, then the final car, a R34 GT-R, man why do people love all these GT-R's? A black Vspec 2 as well according to the list." Jane and Keiichi walked towards the Brazilian guy leaning on the side of his R34 with the hood open.

Sweeper followed the 2 over and had a peak under the hood with Jane.

"Very interesting tuning here, you are using Twin Turbos, but the tuner parts you have used looks stock. According to what you submitted to us when joining up, this car should output around 600 HP in this state of tuning; now I only know of one setup that looks stock but outputs around that when it comes to RB26 engines. That's the Mine's RB26 ultimate response unit… Don't tell me you have…"

Carlos smiled before he spoke: "Ok, so I won't tell you that."

"Normally gaining sufficient power for professional mountain pass runs is a balance thingy and most GT-R's don't pass 400 HP, but you surely found a way to add 200 extra to that. Not bad doing that with a 2.6 litre and using a turbo. Suspension is not in a perfect state of tuning for this, if I were to guess you have only swapped the engine tuning for this? Because from what I see here this suspension is set up for an engine that outputs way more than 600 HP."

"Yes, I just got a new RB26 recently and the parts from Mine's so I have been busy setting it up, didn't have time to do the suspension, but I did a few test runs before I got the car shipped here and it should work reasonably well."

"Should do for your first battle, but we may have to do some setup to it, shouldn't be too much work." Jane stated while looking over the springs and attempting to push down the rear of the black R34 with her body's weight.

"Ok that was all the racers accounted for, let's just get these cars loaded up on the truck and get ready to head out, seems like everyone is ready." Keiichi said.

The cars were pushed by hand towards the truck and were winched onto it; it was a 2 level car transporter that was usually used to transfer new cars to shops as well as cars for large racing teams.  
The mechanics secured the cars to the rear of the truck and got ready to head out; the team used a bus to transport the people that were not driving a truck to the location.

"Every one aboard, we are moving out" Keiichi shouted out and some of the Japanese mechanics served as truck drivers, since they had Japanese licenses for trucks as well as 18 wheelers.  
The crew quickly got into the bus and Jane sat down with the laptop getting the simulation of the cars ready.Sweeper and Carlos went to sleep once the bus got moving.


	4. Chapter 4: Going rouge

The bus arrived at the mountain pass and Todou School had already gathered there waiting to see who their opponents were.Project S had already listed the 2 drivers they wanted to race up front, Ninomiya Daiki and Sakai.  
The 2 Todou school drivers watched the heavy 18 wheeler trucks pull into the empty parking lot.

"And I thought Project D was crazy, these guys even transport their cars on trucks, I wonder who these guys are." Sakai said.

"Rumours say they are a foreign team, but not from which country, if any."

"I don't feel like losing twice, but I wonder why these guys chose us as their opponents." Just as Sakai finished the sentence the bus with the mechanics and drivers stopped and started unloading.

Sweeper and Carlos still half sleepy got out and begun stretching out.

"Well Carlos, have they decided who is going to race?"

"I don't know exactly, I was sleeping just like you." Carlos replied.

"Damn, I forgot that, let's ask Keiichi then." Sweeper walked towards Keiichi who was speaking with Jane.

"Keiichi, have you decided who is going to race tonight?" Sweeper asked

"Yes, you and Carlos will be doing the battling against our first opponents, the R34 will according to Jane be very suited for the hill climb and your FD is perfect for the downhill. However should it start to rain we are replacing you with Chang." Keiichi said while looking at Jane for confirmation, after all she was the one that knew cars inside out, but Keiichi knew strategies for winning, something Jane wasn't very good at.

Sweeper looked up towards the sky; there wasn't a cloud in sight.

"Looks like I got to race tonight, Hey Carlos, we better get our cars onto the course." Sweeper turned and waved at Carlos before they walked to the car carrier who had already begun unloading the cars.

"So we are going to race tonight? Oh well, suits me just fine, I am up for it."

While Sweeper and Carlos were waiting for their cars to be taken down from the ramp, Keiichi was walking over to the Todou School members.  
He greeted them in a friendly manner.

"We are the Project S team; will you let us use this course for practice with the race being tomorrow?"

"This sounds too much like Project D if you ask me." Daiki commented to Sakai.

"It is allright, you can use the course, just be on the starting line tomorrow night." Sakai replied to Keiichi, Keiichi thanked them and walked back to Jane still simulating on her laptop with a serious look on her face.

"I do not like the way these guys are organized, too much like a real racing team. But they appear to be on a whole different level than Project D; if you look closely the tools the mechanics are using are not standard tools that Project D used. Last time I saw somebody use such tools was on a race track." One of the Todou members said.

"Indeed these guys are oddballs when it comes to this, but I cannot make out who those drivers are, I have seen those 2 before somewhere." Sakai commented while pointing at Sweeper and Carlos joking to each other.

"I guess we will find out later, but I say we do not do the same error that we did towards Project D, lets watch these guys run and see what we can come up with." Daiki commented to Sakai.

"You are right, these guys can be very good, they don't appear to be amateurs, and they are also well funded." Sakai said with a serious look on his face as he watched the mechanics rush in and out of the trailer on one of the 18 wheelers.

"Do you want us to change tires Sweeper?" One of the mechanics asked.

"No, not yet I need to drive a round of the course and decide which tires are suited for the course, for that the current street tires should do, we will have to swap tires before we race though." Sweeper said as he got into the FD and started up the engine.

"I'll do the same thing; I need to feel the linear handling of my GT-R before I go with the right tires for the race." Carlos got off his jacket and put it in the back seat of his Skyline.

The mechanics watched the 2 cars pull out on the road and disappear around the first corner.  
Jane approached them after seeing Sweeper and Carlos take off.

"Did you complete the setup on their cars?" Jane asked the 2 chief mechanics.

"No, they insisted on running the course with the cars in present condition before returning up here."

"This starts off just GREAT, wasting our precious time on their foolish games."

Keiichi sensing trouble got over to Jane and asked in his cold voice:

"Is there a problem?"

"Is there a problem? I'll tell you what the problem is, those two top drivers that are going to battle tonight headed off together while they were supposed to bring a mechanic to assist in setting up their car! They used the excuse that they needed to decide on proper tires but I know it is something else and I know EXACTLY what those two are doing."

McClintock was smiling in the background as he knew exactly what Sweeper and Carlos were doing.  
Keiichi on the other hand was clueless.

"What do you mean Jane? What are those two doing?"

McClintock came over to Keiichi and started talking.

"Those two are rivals, good rivals actually. They are the best of friends until they get into their cars, then it is a battle to see who is faster, if you had studied those two a bit more you would have noticed that, they often meet in the US to run on the streets, but now they have new machines and a new interesting ground to cover and I bet they couldn't leave the temptation of seeing who was faster to rest. That is Carlos and Sweeper in a nutshell for you, always been like that since they first met on the streets."

"EXACTLY! McClintock here is right on as usual."

"Will this have consequences for the race itself? Will they be out of their prime condition? What about their cars?" Keiichi asked with a worried look on his face.

Jane turned towards Keiichi and in the background they clearly heard a loud 4 rotor and a blow off valve as well as tires squealing.

"I think they will be just fine, once they are done they usually settle down, it is just that this annoys me a bit, I like to have a lot of time when it comes for suspension setups, but these guys usually make me work overtime." Jane shook her head and headed back to the table they had put up with the laptop, Keiichi followed her to discuss the racing strategy.

McClintock on the other hand just laughed silently and walked back to Chang.  
Chang was actually just enjoying the fresh mountain air.

"It has been a long time since I have felt this, the tension of racing and the fresh air. I used to just stand like this and enjoy the air before I got into my car and did the battle."

"You are going to get that chance again Chang, should be interesting to see your NSX on the pass, actually I cannot wait for my turn heading uphill, unlike Carlos I haven't done much weight reduction to my car." McClintock said while taking the last sip from the soda can and crushing it in his hand.

"Well, just brings back memories that is all, memories of both good and bad. If you would excuse me…" Chang walked away from McClintock, Jane noticed what was happening, and she told Keiichi to wait for a second and then headed over to McClintock.

"Hey Jane, what's up with Chang? I thought he was a hardcore racer."

"Chang is a little shy in nature, but he is wild behind the wheel of his NSX… Do you know of his past racing?" Jane asked.

"I can't say I have heard is there anything special?" McClintock showed an interested face expression.

"He was involved in a car accident at a mountain pass, the guy he raced was killed, ever since then he has been having a problem with mountain passes."

"Oh, I am so sorry, I didn't know that." McClintock's face changed to a more serious look.

"Just be a little bit careful the next time, he needs to get warm in the seat again, currently I guess it is just the feeling of the fun he experienced when racing with his team that made him accept this challenge."

"I will, thanks Jane, for telling me this." McClintock walked into the bus the throw away the empty soda can and Jane went back to Keiichi.

"More problems?" Keiichi asked.

"Nah, just a few things that needed to be straightened out, we will have to see if there is a problem. How is the weather forecast?"

"No weather change before Monday morning, typical eh? Those darn Monday mornings."

Jane laughed a bit then she smiled.  
The Mechanics were standing around the parts trailer talking and joking around, and as the minutes passed the familiar 4 rotor sound and the blow off valve could once again be heard.  
The two racers that had taken the liberty of having a private showdown were returning.  
The GT-R and RX-7 stopped at the parking lot and as the drivers got out they looked at each other and sighed.

"TIE! My FD was faster on the downhill but your GT-R was better on the uphill, I guess the insane power output was what you had going for it." Sweeper said.

"I got to commend you, that FD is a nice piece of Touge machinery now, even though all I heard was that loud 4 rotor of yours, I take it you don't have it street legal? Judging by your noisy exhaust"

"I got it road legal in Turkey, but I haven't certified it anywhere else, what about the GT-R of yours, is that road legal?"

"Well, you know where I live and what I do; I couldn't care less for getting it road legal…" Carlos was interrupted by Jane.

"THERE YOU ARE! You guys sure do cause a lot of pain; I just hope you are done with your little private race because we got work to do. And we do not have a week for doing all the tuning either!"

"Ok Jane… We will get right on it."

Jane changed face expression.

"So, who won this time around?" Jane asked.

"It was a tie; I was faster on the uphill but lost on the downhill." Carlos said with a smile on his face.

"I am not surprised, just like I thought it would be. Well your little race had a good purpose though; I got to confirm my theories so far."

Carlos' chief Mechanic had grabbed a laptop and some equipment and started setting it up in Carlos' car.  
Carlos quickly turned around towards the Chief Mechanic.

"HEY! What do you think you are doing?"

"I am mounting a few sensors that we will need to get suspension data."

Carlos grumbled a while and looked at Jane; Jane gave him that serious look because she knew what Carlos really wanted to say.

"Ok then… But be careful, I don't want you ruining my Skyline!" Carlos bursted out.

The Chief Mechanic shook his head and continued to mount the sensor equipment.

"Carlos likes his Skyline quite a bit; actually he has only let two people drive his Skyline, that's me and Carlos himself. However I do not feel like trying his R34 again."

"Is it hard to drive?" Jane asked

"You bet, with the 1500 HP engine that he uses for highway racing it is quite interesting in handling terms, it keeps over and understeering." Sweeper replied while doing counter steer movement with his hands to explain the motions needed.

"That's why you don't sit around waiting for it to oversteer; you make it slide on your terms instead of entering a surprise slide." Carlos replied.

The Chief mechanic got out of the car and called on Carlos.

"It is ready now, let's head out."

Carlos smiled as him and the Chief mechanic got into the car, they both shut their doors and Carlos started the engine.  
Shifting into first gear and letting go of the clutch, the Skyline headed onto the course and disappeared around the corner.

"You think you guys will be ok even without watching video footage of the course first? Not that we any anyways."

"We already got a fairly ok grasp of the course on our private race; it doesn't take long for us to memorize a course. After all the World Cup rarely uses the same street courses twice, only the tracks remains the same, so you have to adapt quickly to that high paced driving. Will take us about 5 runs at least to get the braking points right though but after that the racing should be a breeze."

"Allright, just don't push it too hard out there."

The Chief Mechanic had just finished installing sensor equipment in Sweeper's car; he got up from the passenger side and shouted at Sweeper.

"Yes, yes I hear you. What's your name?"

"I am Miki Tanaka, pleased to meet you."

"Well, I am sure you already know my name Miki, and I have already wasted enough of the team's time as it is, so let's just get started and get this over with it."

Miki and Sweeper got into the FD and into the seatbelts.  
Sweeper fired up the 4 rotor engine and after revving it once the needle on the tachometer idled at 2100 RPM.  
Sweeper stepped on the clutch, shifted into 1st and released it with some gas to get it moving, unlike 2 rotor engines, a 4 rotor offered much more torque due to the extra combustion cycles by the extra 2 rotors.  
The FD disappeared around the corner with a loud exhaust note, a common sign for a 4 rotor.

Jane and Keiichi kept on discussing strategies and car advantages as they prepared the winning simulation for the next day's race.  
The mechanics had to prepare to execute the car setup that Jane brought to them, once Sweeper and Carlos was done with the trial run she didn't take long to come up with the best suspension setup.  
The work was done quickly and by the morning they were ready to go, it was time to get some sleep before the race with the Todou School.


	5. Chapter 5: Back to School

As the evening closed in, the weather was still holding the same pattern, which was a good thing, Jane had gambled with the weather, if it had started to rain Chang would have to drive with nearly no experience in driving on this course.  
But then again, he might have driven here before, after all Chang had been running his own racing team once, before the incident that made Chang quit.

A yellow EK9 Civic had pulled up and the driver was getting ready, Keiichi approached them.

"What do you chose, leading or chasing?"

Daiki looked at Keiichi for a short moment before he looked at the FD and the driver getting ready to drive that thing, he had watched it the following night and realized the driver was not some Sunday driver.

"My choice is to chase."

Keiichi turned back to Jane and he had a bit of a worried expression on his face, he knew chasing was advantageous.  
As he got back to Jane and Sweeper waiting for the answer from Todou School, Jane noticed Keiichi's worried expression.

"What's the problem?" Jane asked.

"They chose to chase, I had hoped for them to lead though."

"Chasing huh?" Sweeper asked.

"Yes, do you think you can handle it?" Keiichi asked.

Jane quickly shot in:

"Sweeper may be an expert when it comes to following his opponent, but he has another skill when it comes to leading. He is very good at managing the pressure; he can shut out the opponent and run his own pace. I have seen him do this, it is a miracle performance."

"I hope you are right, if we fail at this point it will be a major blow to the rest of the sponsors. Both my and Jane's head as well as the World Cup leader is on the line here." Keiichi's face expression was clearly worried.

"Don't worry, he will be able to do it without a sweat I bet, worry more about Carlos when it comes to this. He is a bit of a hotshot, but he has great driving skills."

"If you don't mind, let's just get this running." Sweeper left the table and headed over to his car; Jane rose as well and put her hand on Keiichi's shoulder.

"I'll do the start, you better get a bit relaxed because Carlos is easy to stress up, you want to try and calm him down a bit."

Jane walked on towards the starting line and got ready, the blue FD slowly pulled past the EK9 and stopped in front of it, it was going to be a slow start with a full throttle attack at the first corner.  
Jane's job was to give the go ahead with the slow start.

Both cars began revving their engines, awaiting the go signal from Jane.  
Her hands went down and Sweeper's FD began rolling with the EK9 following, at the first corner Sweeper slammed the gas pedal to the floor and let the 4 rotor put down the power to the wheels.  
The 4WD computer began shifting power to the front wheels to maintain the same speed on all 4 tires.  
Daiki was surprised by the acceleration of the FD, but the race had just started after all, even if the FD was faster on the straightaway it wouldn't be enough.

After the first few corners, Daiki felt reassured at this point.  
The FD seemed to have one weakness in the area he was good at, and that was braking.  
He would naturally brake late but not always release at the perfect point, in corners he would have the chance.  
Sweeper threw a quick look in the mirror and noticed the EK9 closely following him.

"You have managed to keep up this far, well it is downhill so the power difference between our cars doesn't matter that much, so that's one reason you can keep up. The other is probably that you are better at exiting from corners than I am, at least at the moment. Though I got to admit I cannot be better than you at braking, however I have another skill that I haven't used yet; it is also my favourite skill. Let me show you the introduction to it at the next corner!"

Sweeper was on the gas pedal until the last possible moment before he slammed on the brake pedal to slow down for the corner.  
The point where most cars break at going fast in out of corners is at the grip the tires offered, tonight Sweeper had picked hard rubber compound.It was a bad choice for getting maximum grip, however if you plan on taking a lot of corners or go at their limit quite often it is your best choice.Because hard rubber has a higher operating temperature than softer tires it was more durable to extreme cornering speeds than a softer compound would be.Even with the lower grip offered by the tires, Sweeper was an expert at distributing it for cornering.Next after braking comes tire grip distribution, if you fail to distribute it properly you will lose what you have gained in braking, Sweeper's car was half 4WD compared to the FF chasing him.In any cornering situation a car that had power to the rear wheels would be advantageous, because in a FF you had to worry about the infamous torque steer so acceleration when entering the corner as fast as possible would be very difficult to do, since the car would over use the grip at the front and understeer.In that aspect Sweeper's 4WD solution was the ultimate, 4WD only when needed, or rather when the driver wanted to have it.

Daiki got a shock, even though the FD missed the ideal release point yet again it was still faster through the corner.

"Impossible, how can it possibly pull faster than me through the corner? That is not the best brake release point, I tried that when learning this course and it is a time loss. But yet you can pull away doing moves like that?" Daiki was clearly shocked; he had to do better if he wanted to keep up.

The FD did the same on the next corner, slightly broadening the distance, at the corner a man wearing a red boiler suit were watching the race.  
He looked over the cornering style of Sweeper and was clearly impressed, that man was Todou himself.

"He is using a somewhat forgotten technique, I only know of one man that can pull off that well tire grip management, but he retired from racing long time ago. But this will be another good lesson for Daiki, the next thing you need to learn after braking is to manage your tire grip properly. Anyone can do basic management but they will have a hard time stretching out those last few percentages of grip that the tire has available without losing the grip. This guy can do it very well." The FD blasted through the next corner with the EK9 closely following but losing on the exits, only on the entry could the EK9 win a bit with the braking.

"Man, driving with hard compound was smart, but it is damn difficult, a good thing I practiced a lot with cheap half busted tires earlier in my career. A lot of the friends I rode with always teased me for my cheap tire choices, I may have been a bit stingy but now I am laughing. I can drive a lot better on the same tires than what they can possibly do." Sweeper commented while rapidly steering in and out of corners.

Daiki kept watching the FD when he noticed another weakness when it came to the driver; his driving style wasn't matching the car perfectly.

"The FD driver is driving a NA car, however he is not using that advantage by varying the accelerator pressure in a corner, he seems to try and stay on full throttle as much as possible, a typical turbo technique to eliminate the lag from the turbo. Even though he can corner well with that NA engine he is not using it to his full potential just yet. I guess I should try to get closer with some trail braking and try to apply some pressure."

Daiki changed his driving style to allow a faster corner entry; he quickly got up to the bumper of the FD, but the same syndrome from the race with Takumi occurred.  
He kept missing the chances he had to overtake by a hair length.  
Even though he kept pressuring Sweeper in the corners he seemed unaffected, even though Daiki was clearly on the rear bumper of Sweeper's RX-7.

"Trying to apply pressure and make me do some mistakes huh? I can tell from here, but I am used to keeping the stress down when being chased, if you fail to do that you will make mistakes, and at high speeds that can lead to fatal things. I have seen people hit the wall at speeds well over 200 KPH and it is not pretty. I guess I should respond soon, but in my own way." Sweeper said while looking in the rear view mirror with a smile.

The cars entered a short straight and Sweeper hammered the throttle of his NA 4 rotor, shifted up at 11500 RPM like had done earlier, but at the corner that was coming up it was time for him to change strategy.  
Daiki noticed the FD changed cornering positioning, Sweeper was preparing for a change in driving style, the main reason he had chosen harder tires in the first place.

"Time to show you and the Todou School, how we in the World Cup do cornering when it gets tight!" Sweeper said while turning in and braking, throwing the car into a 4 wheel drift the upcoming S corner was really going to show off speed and the power of quickly changing direction.  
Daiki tried to keep up on the entry but it was useless, the FD driver was good at oversteer control, and the type of 4 wheel drift required little counter steering effort.In other words, it was a fast way around corners where getting power down to the ground wasn't a main concern.Daiki tried to step on the accelerator, forgetting the high speed his EK9 was travelling at through the corner, the front lost grip and begun to understeer.The driver slammed on the brakes hoping to regain traction in time, but the FD was already through the corner by the time he had gotten the grip back.At the following straight the EK9 had lost too much speed while battling the understeer to even compete with the FD's slightly slower than usual exit acceleration.

Realising the battle was lost, Daiki let go off the gas pedal and watched the FD go sideways through the last few corners, and he had been caught by the secret behind the speed of drifting.  
Sweeper took his FD to the parking lot at the bottom and awaited the rest of the team to get there.  
He waited 30 minutes, sitting on the hood of his FD thinking about his own life.  
As the team members arrived on the bus, they noticed Sweeper looking somewhat phased out.

"What's wrong with him?" Chang asked.

"Sweeper is such a cool guy, he has a pretty cool life, and I mean is there anything he cannot do well? I mean he is a mercenary that has a good reputation and he drives like his pants are on fire." McClintock said.

"Believe me, you don't want to be like Sweeper McClintock, he is hardly home, and his home pretty much looks like a dump mind you. He lives in a shack that doesn't offer much comfort, sleeps on a military style bunk bed, and not to mention his love life, it is a DISASTER! Good thing is that he found a girlfriend that suits him."

"What do you mean by "girlfriend that suits him"?" Chang asked looking puzzled.

"Well, his girlfriend is a helicopter pilot and she rarely has time to be near him, when they do meet it is for short periods of time before one of them has to head off somewhere. Asking me it looks like they love their work more than each other. He is good on the battlefield and in a car, but that's where it ends. I guess if you asked them if they were engaged both would answer no on the spot."

"So in other words he has no chance to get a proper girlfriend?" McClintock asked.

"Yes, that pretty much sums it up, I heard he got a bit mad at Keisuke over the phone once, he asked him why he turned down some FD girl's offer, suffice to say the phone call that was intended as a hint about Keisuke's driving never went really well."

"If it has been like that for a long time, I must admit he is really good at hiding his true feelings." Chang commented while looking at Sweeper still sitting on the hood of the FD.

"Oh yeah he does, he is very good at hiding his true feelings, comes with the line of work you can say."

The bus stopped and they got out, Carlos and his Chief Mechanic started unloading the R34 from the truck, while Jane walked over to Sweeper.  
She stopped in front of him and Sweeper quickly snapped out of his thoughts.

"I did it, I won the race. Though the FD felt a bit strange, it was like it was lacking that extra punch."

"Well let me judge that…" Jane bent under the front of the car and pulled out a camera.

"You installed a camera? Why wasn't I informed of that?"

"I needed to see how you handled the 4 rotor NA. It will also answer why it lacked that extra punch you expected. Follow me over to the truck and we will view this tape." Jane and Sweeper walked away, in the background the Todou School had already started questioning Daiki.

"How could you lose a 2nd time to outsiders?" A graduate asked.

"He was fast, all of a sudden his driving style changed, I tried to match him somewhat but failed, I didn't think drifting was that fast…" Daiki said while looking down.

"The psychological effect of drifting…" Sakai commented.

"Psychological effect?" Daiki asked.

"Yes, drifting is not the ideal thing for fastest times but when used in battle it can sometimes catch the opponent off guard when it comes to corner entry speed, it is a good way to dump speed but sacrifices acceleration, most opponents get caught up in the entry and tries to match it, even though the grip driving rule is to slow down and wait for the exit to and counter with pure acceleration force. You obviously tried to keep up, and you ran out of front grip in the corner, is that right?" Sakai asked Daiki.

"Yes, I under steered badly, had to slam on the brakes to avoid crashing. The moment I recovered the FD was already using his power to pull away on the straight and I lacked momentum to actually be faster than him on the exit out of the corner thanks to the understeering."

"Not very many drivers can use that in their mind games. Actually most people try to do it will use trail braking but it can be copied very easily by a skilled driver, drifting is a lot harder to copy." The graduate in the black sweater commented.

"It looks like it is all up to me now. I am going up against a R34 GT-R apparently; I have seen that driver somewhere. I know I have." Sakai commented while looking at Carlos getting into the black Skyline.

Sakai got into his Integra and pulled in front of the Skyline, he was going to do the leading for this race, after all that was the position he was best at.  
Keiichi, heeding Jane's warning earlier quickly got up to Carlos who still had the door open waiting for everything and everyone to get ready.

"Hey Carlos, just remain cold out there, don't do anything stupid."

"Hey Keiichi, you think I will lose to some piece of shit Honda FF? If it was a NSX which is Rear Wheel Drive I would be a bit worried but it takes more than a FF to scare me."

"Like I said, don't underestimate or take him lightly. We cannot afford a loss, not here, not now."

"Well, I am not going to go easy on the guy, after all I dislike Honda's, let it be Type R or not. I will show him what a true R is all about. And with that I mean the R as in the GT-R badge that's on the rear of my car."

"Just… Forget it! Talking to you is just as useful as talking to a brick wall."

"Whatever, just get clear, we are going to race here." Carlos waved Keiichi away and shut the door on his Skyline; he was ready for the start.

Keiichi gave the all clear and the 2 cars started the race up the hill.


	6. Chapter 6: Stupid Honda driver

Back on the lot Jane had watched the video and she smiled, she grabbed the remote and found the point in the video where Sweeper was cornering.

"You hear your engine sound here don't you? This is where you lack your engine punch." Jane commented while pointing at the small monitor with the remote.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You need to change your driving style for this car, you were driving in turbo style in the corner, and you were trying to do as much full throttle as possible. However with a NA car you can dive in at the limit and vary your pressure on the accelerator for extra control, that's what you need to do."

"So you want me to dive in a lot quicker than I usually do and control the front grip with the gas pedal?"

"Yes, if you did that with a turbo you would suffer the spool up time from letting go off the accelerator, it is not much but sufficient to give you a loss of time and maybe control. With a NA the pressure on the accelerator alone decides the power output, but I am sure you catch what I mean by now."

"Yeah, I do. I'll give it a go next time." Sweeper turned away and headed over to Chang and McClintock.

"So tell me, how is it in Tokyo as of now Chang?" McClintock asked Chang while looking at his R34 on the back of the truck.

"Quite interesting really, after I lost my title as "Tokyo's fastest" the racers have popped up all around town; mostly it is the Wangan racers, those who prefer the highway racing over the mountain pass."

"Sounds interesting, I wonder if they take newcomers, all I have to do is wind up the boost on my turbo and I think I may compete." McClintock said enthusiastically.

"Well it may prove to be tough for you, there is this guy called Sagara I think, he is pretty damn fast on the highway. I haven't seen him at my bar though."

Sweeper bumped into the conversation.

"Sagara huh? Well if I wasn't enrolled with Project S I would probably have challenged him." Sweeper commented.

"With that 4 rotor NA of yours you wouldn't be much of a threat on the straight to him, you will need to put in the 4 rotor turbo."

"Yeah I know, I did bring the turbo engine over here but I won't spend a day in the workshop swapping them unless I really need to." Sweeper commented.

"I still wonder why all of you guys swapped over to slower engines for this type of racing, I mean you have all detuned your cars, I am still running in the stock form I have always done, with around 500 HP or so, but you and Carlos have dropped from over 1000 down to the 600 range or so."

"I am sure both me and Carlos could have beaten all of these guys with the high lag we get from our turbos as well as the wide gearing we normally use. However both I and Carlos look at this as a chance to test our mountain pass configuration before we have to do the real deal in a World Cup race. The reason why lower power is better is because we get a bit more responsive engines, like I said we have problems opening the throttle in corners due the turbo effect, it feels slow until the boost comes down. Well it doesn't matter much for Carlos and his driving style though. However I usually drive grip to preserve the tires and losing it in an unexpected situation due to wheel spin is not a very good idea."

"That's right, I put the supercharger I had lying around in my garage back on the NSX, the turbo I normally use doesn't have a very widespread boost threshold either, on a mountain pass you may find yourself falling out of the boost threshold every now and then." Chang added.

"Well, I haven't done anything, I did a few tests at some local mountain passes over in the states and I didn't have any problems controlling the car."

"It is easy to figure out why, first of all your engine has a few parts that I added when I used to own that car, 2nd part is the solution you went to neutralize the turbo lag. I must commend you, it is very effective." Sweeper said and looked at the bayside blue R34 GT-R Vspec.

"I know about the lag part, but I was talking about the boost threshold, I have never had the problem that I have fallen out of the boost threshold."

"You will feel it in the next battle, I am pretty sure you will." Sweeper commented with a smile.

On the uphill they had already cleared a few corners; Sakai was smiling while clearing corners in his usual way of driving.  
However Carlos was sticking to him as if he was being towed by Sakai.

"Up here begins the corners I like, sequential corners which are part blind corners. I will play the same tactic I always play with those who races me here."

The Integra dived into the corner and as Carlos came into the corner the Integra's brake lamps went on.

"Why are you braking here?" Carlos sputtered out while letting go of the gas pedal.

The Integra quickly gained some distance between him and Carlos.

"You son of a… If this was in Brazil I would have made dinner for the dogs out of you! Nice trick with the fake brake lamps, but that will not work a 2nd time, you stupid Honda driver." Carlos slammed the gas pedal to the floor and instantly gripped the shifter.

The Mine's Response RB26 package was an engine that was totally designed for maximum response in the 4 first gears.  
In those gears it usually didn't last longer than 1 second before you had to up shift, it was somewhat close gearing however the speed you got on the speedometer sure wasn't from a close gearing gearbox.It was like the standard R34 gearbox and that was going to Carlos greatest weapon against the Integra driver.In the Integra Sakai was still smiling, not only did he smile when he was concentrating but he was also smiling of Carlos falling for his tactic.

"Feint braking is common in Todou School competitions; however that is just the starting of my trap. The main part in this race is not speed, it is keeping the right rhythm and I am an expert at disrupting the chasers rhythm."

The Integra quickly dived into the corner up ahead in a very weird way in Carlos eyes.  
His line was not what he would have chosen for that corner, he quickly figured out why the Integra was attacking at that line.Carlos slammed on the brakes and tried to fall into the same line Sakai had taken with his Integra, it was going to be difficult, especially when his R34 decided to understeer into the corner.

"Damnit! This is not the time to understeer… Fine then, lets do it my way!" Carlos stepped on the brakes and made the rear fly out.  
His usual way of countering torque steer when he was driving his 1500 horse power engine, piling on the power to keep the car sideways through the corner.  
Sakai looked in the rear view mirror and got a bit worried when he saw the GT-R come sideways out of the corner.

"He could clear that? He actually copied my line even though he was over speeding… He is good." Sakai commented to himself and stepped harder on the gas pedal, he was going to try and attack the next corner in the same manner.

Carlos slammed on the gas pedal, now it was only 2 of the worst corners left, the guy that exited the last corner would most likely win.

Sakai dived in fighting the FF layout's will to understeer, even in its original state the car would be prone to torque steer, however not only had he tuned his Integra, Sakai had also turbo tuned it, making the torque steer even worse.  
Just as he exited the corner he checked his rear view mirror again, it was clear for the moment at least.But the more he looked the more he could swear he saw a black car come chasing after him.

Up to the last corner was a longer straight and that was where Carlos would make his move.  
His GT-R quickly dived out of the corner following the racing line and the engine power rocket it down the straight.  
He could clearly see the Integra's rear grow bigger and bigger.  
Sakai on the other hand was getting worried.

"I cannot lose, not a 2nd time like Daiki did, after all this is the Todou School's home course." Sakai looked in the rear view again and this time the GT-R was right on his tail, nearly rubbing it.

"You are good, I am sure you are better than that Takahashi Keisuke that beat me, but I will not let you pass me."

Sakai lost his smile and tried to block the inside line for Carlos at the last corner.  
However, Carlos had anticipated that and he kept charging for the inside.  
He went slightly off the road course and bumped into the front panel of the Integra slightly, not enough to cause a dent but enough to overload the suspension on the other side of the car, causing the Integra to lose the rhythm and front grip.  
Sakai slammed on the brakes hoping to regain traction, but it was useless to win the race now, the GT-R was already passing in front of him and accelerating away.  
The last thing Sakai saw was 4 big circle taillights disappear around the corner.

"DAMNIT, I lost yet again."

Carlos was laughing.

"Stupid Honda driver, don't blame me for that, it is common practice in the racing world to make the opponent lose its rhythm, just like you tried with your cosmetic brake lamps. You fell for your own tactic!" Carlos commented while watching the Integra disappear.

20 minutes later at the bottom of the mountain they were all smiling, they had taken down Todou School.  
Keiichi was relieved, actually so relieved that he said something without thinking.

"Know what! I will buy a round of drinks at Chang's bar tonight! It is on my bill."

The mechanics and some of the drivers cheered for the decision, but Carlos and Sweeper knew they had to do something else first.  
They had to beat Project D's time on the course; it was time for the time trial.  
Sweeper got into his FD and started the downhill while Carlos did the uphill, it didn't take long to crush Project D's time with 2 seconds.Even when these news hit Keiichi he really had to smile, his and Jane's heads were off the hook for now at least.

"Good job on the time attack back there Sweeper, and same to you Carlos, you really showed them what's what. Now let's pack up and head back to town. We are done here."

Sweeper and Carlos smiled as Keiichi walked away to instruct the mechanics on the pack up process.  
Daiki and Sakai approached Carlos and Sweeper who were talking, the moment the two spotted the Todou members they stopped talking to each other.

"Can we help you guys somehow?" Sweeper asked.

"We were wondering, who you guys were."

"Well we don't have a big reputation in Japan, but the guys over there" Sweeper pointed at Chang and McClintock "Are Chang from Tokyo also known as the "Chinese dragon" and Mr McClintock and his R34. Next to me you have Carlos actually a Mexican living in Brazil at the moment; they call him "Speedy Gonzales" also drives a R34. Lastly it is me, Sweeper I drive a FD as you already know. We are actually racers in the World Cup if you have heard about it."

"That's where I remembered that R34 from. Remember my trip to Brazil last year? I saw him and his R34 on the front cover of a Brazilian car magazine. That was where I remembered him from." Sakai said.

"Well so it was you Sweeper who defeated that Takahashi Keisuke on the uphill. I thought of something like that when we raced but the rumours I heard stated that you drove a turbo 4 rotor and not a NA."

"Recent changes there."

"Speaking of 4 rotors, what else did you do to that FD during the conversion? I am sure you didn't follow the front midship position for the new 4 rotor, right?" Carlos asked.

"Correct, took me a lot of suspension tweaking but if you look in the trunk of the FD you will something else that will give you a clue to how I handle weight distribution."

"Looks like this were a no win match after all, these guys are on a totally different level than us." Daiki commented and Sakai nodded as they both turned away and walked back to their cars.

"Hey Carlos, let's get on the bus and get out of here, we have wasted enough time already." Carlos and Sweeper turned towards the bus to head back to their improvised home.


	7. Chapter 7: Late nights in Tokyo

After the team had arrived at their new and improvised home they had a whole week which they had kill time awaiting the next opponent.  
Some mechanics would hang out at Chang's bar in downtown Tokyo while others would find other ways to spend their time.  
Sweeper, Carlos, McClintock and Chang however headed off to Chang's bar which carried the rather weird name of "The Hole".  
But by no means was this a dump of a bar, it was a fairly high class bar judging from the interior.  
However it was clearly inspired by Street Racing, pistons with conrods were hanging on the walls as well as a few racing tires and pictures of cars as well as racing legends.  
The bar had 2 floors, the first story was where the bar desk was and had the most tables scattered around with the bar desk located in the center of the building.  
On top of the bar which was about 20 Square meters there was the 2nd floor which had a few more tables, it created a classic look with the ability to sit on the 2nd floor and look down at the people in the 1st floor of the bar.

Chang had already arranged a table by the entrance at the first floor, the table that Sweeper usually took when he arrived in Tokyo.  
They were sitting around talking when a Japanese friend of Chang showed up.

"Hey Chang, are these the World Cup guys you were talking about?"

"Yes Kenji, let me introduce you, this is Kenji. Kenji this is Carlos, Sweeper and McClintock. Kenji here drives a S14 Silvia."

"Pleased to meet you Kenji, sit down with us."

Kenji took a chair at the end of the table with Chang and McClintock sitting closest to the window.

"So, what do you guys think of the results in the WRC last week?" Kenji asked.

"WRC?" Sweeper and Carlos said with a slight annoyance.

"You know, World Rally Championship. What do you think about Loeb winning?"

"Let's go for a ride Carlos… In your car, my car drinks too much fuel." Carlos nodded and they both left the table slightly disgusted.

"What was that all about?" Kenji asked.

"Sweeper and Carlos doesn't recognise rally drivers, they hate rallying. They state that all rallying is good for is learning oversteer control with minimal wear and tear to the car; it is not something you drive to get better on. I don't share their way of thinking though." Chang commented.

"Have they tried rallying?"

"If they have, that Carlos guy used to practice with 700 HP out of a R32 GT-R on dirt and gravel before he moved to tarmac. Back in the World Cup we had a few rally courses, Sweeper and Carlos only raced 2 times in the rally races then they stopped showing up when those events was being held. Rather losing points than being bored, needless to say those guys were fast on that rally course; they won the events with ease."

"So they basically find rallying boring?" Kenji asked.

"Yes, they love tarmac driving and the challenges that brings. Both have driving styles leaning towards oversteer rather than understeer when it comes to driving fast. Carlos is more of a drift guy while Sweeper prefers grip driving up till the point a slide is unavoidable."

"Does he go 100 percent Grip driving?" Kenji asked

"Well not exactly, his roots are in drifting though but drifting eats on tire wear so he doesn't drift wastefully. He isn't an expert at tires for nothing; he can distribute the grip as he wants it perfectly during racing as well as being very good at managing the tire wear." Chang explained while making hand movements to illustrate what he was talking about.

"You said roots in drifting? Did he do drift racing like D1?"

"Nah, he started out with grip driving in his first car, well he lost badly in a race and that was when he changed to drift driving and levelled up quite a bit. Later on he went back to grip again with a lot more skill. But with such knowledge came his hate for rally drivers. Everyone was talking all about the rally drivers and how great they were; well he is determined to show them they are a bunch of school kids. The funny part is that Carlos thinks the same way." McClintock commented.

"Have they ever had a show down with a rally driver?" Kenji asked.

"Officially no they haven't though rumours have it that Sweeper dragged Petter Solberg into a mountain pass match on tarmac and beat the crap out of him. But that is just a rumour I heard, it apparently happened in Norway during one of his own conquering rounds around the world. That was before he ran into Carlos that is."

Just then Keiichi came over to the table with an armful of beer bottles and a cigarette in his mouth.  
He stopped and looked over the 3 guys sitting on the table before asking:

"Where are Sweeper and Carlos?"

"Those two went out for a ride when we started talking World Rally Championship." Chang replied.

"Oh, well that means more beer for us then, you want one Mr?" Keiichi asked Kenji sitting on the end of the table.

"Sure, I got nowhere to drive right off so no problem with that" Kenji replied and grabbed a beer before Keiichi sat down on Carlos previous seat.

In the meantime Carlos and Sweeper were out cruising on the streets of Tokyo in Carlos' R34 Skyline.

"Didn't Chang mention that there was some action on the highways?" Carlos asked Sweeper.

"Yeah, that's where most of the guys hang out these days, the Highway or Wangan as they call it is where Chang made his name back in the day. Are you planning on heading over there?" Sweeper asked.

"Yep, even with the Mine's engine I still think I can have some high speed fun

Carlos headed onto an onramp and floored the gas pedal.  
Sweeper was pushed back in the seat as the launched like a rocket down the highway.  
Carlos noticed a red car up ahead, it was driving normally at the speed limit, and Carlos used his turn signal and quickly entered the passing lane still with the accelerator fully depressed.  
The GT-R showed some instability during the lane change but Carlos had no problems controlling the Skyline, after all he was used to high speed driving with a 1500 HP RB26DETT.  
Carlos had always been deemed crazy in comparison to other drivers, when on high speed courses he never got a new rear wing to help stabilize the GT-R at higher speeds, instead he used technique to control the car.  
As they rolled up on the red car, Sweeper recognized it.  
It was a Lancia 037, an Italian car with some rally accessories.  
The driver watched the black R34 GT-R Vspec 2 blow past at a high speed but didn't bother to pick up the chase.

"Just another one of these kids that has fun on the Wangan these days, not interested in racing today." Sagara said as he watched the GT-R disappear.

In the GT-R Carlos was smiling.

"Did you see that? I passed a Lancia easy as that. Wasn't it a red Lancia that was Tokyo's fastest according to Chang?"

"Well, what Chang told me on the bus about it was more than that. He would have murdered you if you were racing. Well anyways let's head back; I am sure they are done talking WRC by now."

"Fine, let me pull over here." Carlos took an off ramp and found a small parking lot where he stopped the car.

"Why are you stopping here?" Sweeper asked.

"Well, I want you to take the wheel." Carlos smiled.

"HELL NO! I tried that 1500HP GT-R and I will tell you right now. It was a nightmare to drive, why do you think I sold my R34 in the first place?"

Carlos just laughed and got out of the car; he walked over to the passenger side of the car and opened the door.

"You are going to drive it back! So move over!" Carlos changed his tone.

"Ok, OK, OK! But only once, and I am telling you right off the bat that I don't like it."

Sweeper moved over to the driver's seat and depressed the clutch.  
Carlos grabbed the shifter before Sweeper could move his hand and shifted it into first gear.  
Sweeper let the car crawl slightly out of the parking lot and onto the road before he floored the gas pedal only to slightly let off when entering the highway again.  
It was a quick shift into second gear, 3rd flew past equally quick before 4th.  
The responsive RB26 wasn't just a name for show, it was very real.  
Sweeper entered 5th and rode out that gear on the highway before he let off the gas and slowed down to the speed limit.

"This thing does move I got to admit that. But I have had enough for now; the handling is still the same."

"You never will change; well the next battle should prove interesting I hear."

Sweeper nodded as he cruised along the Wangan until he took off the entrance closest to Chang's bar.  
He parked the car outside and got out of the car; outside he threw the keys to Carlos and headed inside.  
Keiichi immediately greeted them when they entered.

"So what have you two been up to? Please don't tell me you guys went rallying?"

Sweeper rolled his eyes and Carlos was laughing, it was Keiichi's idea of a joke.

"Sweeper and me took the R34 out for a spin, blew past a Lancia 037 on the way as well. And Sweeper still hates to drive my R34…"

"WOW! You got to drive Speedy Gonzales' R34 GT-R! What an honour." Kenji shouted out.

"It is horrible, the car is fast allright but it is a nightmare to drive, it oversteers when you want it to grip and understeers when you need it to slide." Sweeper replied back.

"Complaints, complaints and more complaints" Carlos stuttered.

"At least my FD is easier to drive and much faster… Well at least with the turbocharged 4 rotor." Sweeper replied to Carlos.

"Whatever guys, our next battle is set in the Saitama area, got a few races to take care of there before we move on to the next part of the expedition. I suggest you use this week to get ready." Keiichi commented.

"I'll spend it in my way, sitting around in a goddamn bar talking cars with the rest of the bunch here, sounds like it is going to be great fun." Carlos said while rolling his eyes.

"Sorry attempt at being sarcastic Carlos?" Chang asked.

"Call it what you want." Carlos replied.

The evening went on with JGTC talk and the week didn't provide much action, however on the end of Friday it was Showtime again.  
This time it was off to the Saitama area to get rid of some Project D opponents.


	8. Chapter 8: The rotary power

The Saitama team had gathered and were watching the Project S guys pulling in with their trucks.  
Nobuhiko watched with great interest before he opened his mouth.

"For those of you that thought Project D was hard. Well these guys are 10 times worse it seems. They do not drive their cars here; they have them on a truck for transport."

"How are you planning this?" One of the team mates asked.

"Well it is Friday night now, they will practice until tomorrow night and we will run the first set of races. Then on Sunday we will run the last set of races to conclude. These guys requested Sakamoto to come out with the Cappuccino as well as Waturo and his AE86."

"Who will go with the first batch then?" Waturo asked leaning on his AE86.

"The weather forecast shows rain on Sunday, and I think it is very likely as well. So I will try to do the downhill and Kyoko will do the uphill. But though we might lose, I do not feel like walking away without even trying." Nobuhiko commented and looked at his Altezza.

"I wonder who they will send to the uphill race." Kyoko said.

"I heard they used the FD and the NSX for downhill and the GT-R's for uphill racing. But no matter whom you face these guys will out power you."

"Out power me?" Kyoko asked.

"That FD is packing a 4 rotor rotary engine. The NSX got a supercharger and the 2 GT-R's are monsters alone. That blue one didn't have any specs on the webpage, however the black one is a response monster, with the Mine's RB26DETT package." Nobuhiko commented while looking at the cars being unloaded.

-

Over at the trucks Keiichi had a look at Jane, she was done with the simulations.

"Well Jane, which car do you think will work best in the rain?" Keiichi asked.

"The GT-R's are of course the best for the uphill at least in all cases."

"So you want to send one of the GT-R's up against the black FD as well?" Keiichi asked.

"It is the best choice for the uphill no doubt." Jane said, just then Sweeper came over.

"You want to send a goddamn GT-R against that FD? Isn't the driver named Iwase Kyoko?" Sweeper asked.

"Yeah what about it?" Keiichi asked as a counter question.

"I would like to do that battle, for personal reasons." Sweeper answered

"It isn't advisable to do that, after all the GT-R is the surest way to win this."

"Well Jane it is the best point for cars I guess, but not the best attack point strategy wise." Keiichi answered Jane.

"What do you mean by that?" Jane asked.

"Well they are expecting a GT-R, however if we send the FD it will be a much better way to play this."

"Is that the only thing you want to change on the battle list?" Jane asked.

"Yes, we will send McClintock against the AE86, and if it will rain we send Chang against the Cappuccino, as the Altezza I guess Carlos want a free and easy run. Sweeper will do the FD, besides FD against FD will get most attention as it is the most similar to Project D." Keiichi commented.

"Ok we will go with that list then." Jane said and begun altering her simulation on the laptop.

"Send everyone out Sweeper, all of the drivers, even Carlos. We don't want to give them hints of what cars to expect for the battles." Keiichi said with a smile.

Sweeper headed over to the 3 other drivers standing around talking, Carlos were teasing McClintock with some GT-R jokes when Sweeper arrived.

"Ok guys; get in your cars we got to head out. Get your chief mechanics and let's get rolling." Sweeper said and got into his FD.

Carlos wasn't slow about running over to his black GT-R and firing it up and following Sweeper.  
This night was going to be all practice and mainly pure routine with a few changed variables.  
The 4 cars disappeared with loud engine screams and blow off valves ringing.  
Nobuhiko and Waturo watched them go and looked a bit shocked.

"These guys are not amateurs, I can tell from just watching them for a slight moment." Waturo commented as he saw the blue GT-R disappear.

"My main concern is how they have paired their cars against us, who will race who, by sending everyone out on practice they sure have created a damn good diversion." Nobuhiko said to Waturo.

"Yes, I guess we will have to take it as it gets here." Waturo said.

"Which GT-R I get to face doesn't matter." Kyoko said.

"Where is Sakamoto now? Isn't he supposed to be here Waturo?" Nobuhiko asked.

"He had a few things to take care of today; he will get here for tomorrow's race." Waturo answered.

"I hope the rain and Sakamoto will give us the edge this time unlike the AE86 race." Nobuhiko said with a smile, this time he had simulations for both uphill and downhill.

-

The night flew by and tires were swapped, unlike Project D who used mainly the same tire dimensions and compound, Project S used every type of tires from street tires to racing rubber in 300mm sizes and above. Same type of tires they used in JGTC, the same type of tires that Carlos, McClintock, Sweeper and Chang had built their cars to take.  
The cars were also reinforced to withstand the higher cornering G from higher grip tires, on dry conditions the wider tires was superb to maintain traction and to out corner a lighter car with a heavier machine.  
The rain was a different story though, as wider tires tend to distribute the cars weight over a wider area and therefore making the car prone to hydroplaning.  
Hydroplaning was a nasty condition, it is a condition where the car is afloat on water, though it is not afloat very long, and when the car is afloat is like having zero contact with the road.  
And with zero contact it will either under or oversteer pending on which end of the car that hydroplanes in a corner.  
Having grooves in the tires helps against this condition, as you give the water a place to get away from the pressure put down by the tire, but even so you will still have problems.

Saturday night came and the team were already ready to go for that night's race.Sweeper looked up at the sky; the clouds were gathering over them, it looked like the forecast was going to be correct this time around.

"It looks like the forecast is correct for tomorrow." Sweeper said to the 3 other drivers gathered around him.

"Yeah, looks like I will have to do it in the rain, and I hate rain. Even with 4WD it is difficult." McClintock said.

"It is easy to cope with McClintock, very easy. Just do as I thought you here earlier. Don't sit around waiting for the rear to slide out or understeer into the corner. Make it slide on your terms instead." Carlos commented.

"It really isn't always that easy Carlos, I don't know much about doing that with 4WD but I know from MR experience in the rain that it isn't always the best solution." Chang commented.

"Well, rain or not we are still fast enough to cope with it and our cars are in a perfect state of tune for either dry or wet." Sweeper commented.

"Hey Keiichi what battle will we run first tonight?" Carlos shouted out to Keiichi.

"It is the Toyota Altezza, you better get ready." Keiichi shouted back.

"I'll slaughter him with the power of my GT-R!" Carlos said before heading over to his car.

"Just don't get overconfident and understeer into a tree or something." Sweeper shouted to Carlos as Carlos was walking towards his car.

"Do you think he will be ok?" Chang asked.

"He may be an overconfident prick sometimes…" Sweeper was interrupted by Carlos just as he was entering his car.

"I HEARD THAT!" Carlos shouted back.

Sweeper ignored Carlos' comments and continued.

"But when it comes down to driving he sure isn't slow about it. He showed you against Todou School what true driving skill is all about. After all he is my rival and to be my rival you have to be around the same skill level, that guy can keep up with me and is DAMN hard to shake off. I dare you to try tackling hard courses like Nürburgring and try to shake off Carlos from your tail."

The 3 drivers turned towards the starting line and saw Carlos' GT-R pull in front of Nobuhiko.  
Apparently the Altezza driver was having a plan to win this.  
As Kyoko did the countdown and the Altezza launched after the GT-R, Sweeper observed Nobuhiko.  
He observed how the Altezza behaved upon launch.

"What do you think?" McClintock asked.

"I think that Carlos better be careful." Sweeper replied.

"Oh why is that?" McClintock asked.

"If Carlos pushes too hard and that Altezza tries to copy his pace it will be all over for the Altezza driver. He has no chance in hell to keep up with Carlos' GT-R."

"I was afraid you were going to say it the other way around." McClintock replied.

On the course McClintock was smiling, the Altezza were having trouble keeping up with his pace, after all the GT-R was lightened with carbon fibre modifications as well as wider tires.  
A combination that allowed insane cornering speeds.  
In the Altezza, Nobuhiko were struggling.

"He is so damn fast! I can hardly keep up. The GT-R's I have faced before were nowhere near this guys speed or level! I am stretching myself to the limit here. The temptation to brake and slow down in corners is tempting, but I got to keep up, I don't feel like losing." Nobuhiko said to himself before stepping harder on the gas pedal.

Carlos looked in the rear-view mirror and laughed slightly.

"Having trouble keeping up? Oh well, I am getting bored here in the lead, we are soon coming to the hairpin, after that there is a long straight, I guess I will show you a little flash of my technique before I disappear for good!" Carlos smiled after thinking that and prepared for the upcoming corner.

Back on the top Sweeper was smiling, he knew what was about to happen, as if he was sitting in Carlos' car.

"Why are you smiling Sweeper?" Chang asked.

"I have known Carlos for some time now and with an opponent like that Altezza guy I know Carlos is growing tired of playing around with him around now. I am guessing that he will go all out soon and end this, showing the Altezza driver a quick flash of his driving style and speed."

"Carlos is a drifter, right?" Chang asked.

"Yes, he is one that is said to defy the laws of physics when it comes to drift. He knows how to make the car run faster than others once it goes sideways. After all that is what he does when he otherwise experiences severe torque steer."

Carlos waited till the last possible second before slamming on the brakes and turning in, the loss of rear traction came quickly and his timing with the steering wheel was perfect.  
The GT-R begun a drift into the long hairpin and Carlos were piling on the power to keep the car in the 4WD crabwalk.  
Nobuhiko were shocked by the speed of the R34, forced to take the corner at a lower speed all he saw was a lot of smoke and a black shadow that went sideways.  
The shadow disappeared around the bend and as Nobuhiko got around the corner he could see the rear end of the GT-R accelerating away using its 600 HP responsive engine.  
It was over, all over for Nobuhiko, he had lost yet again.

10 minutes after the start, Sweeper got into his FD and headed down the hill to prepare for the uphill race.  
Kyoko had left earlier after she got the report that Nobuhiko had lost to the black GT-R on the downhill.  
For Sweeper this battle was actually to settle some grudge, not a grudge towards Kyoko but more like a grudge against Keisuke.  
Just to light a little fire under Keisuke's feet.  
As he arrived and stopped at the road behind Kyoko he got out and greeted Kyoko.

"I am Sweeper, or that's what everyone calls me and that's also what I like to go by. Nice FD you got there."

"I am Iwase Kyoko, pleased to meet you and thanks for the complement."

"Before the battle I would just like to tell you that I am doing this battle out of personal reasons, but those reasons do not involve you as a major target." Sweeper commented while looking at the FD.

"What do you mean?" Kyoko asked.

"I will give you this race to ponder on it, if you haven't figured out the answer by the end of the race I will tell you." Sweeper said and got into his FD preparing for the race.

Nobuhiko got ready for the countdown but was halted by Carlos as he had to talk to Sweeper for a bit.  
Sweeper rolled down the window and Carlos bent in.

"Personal reasons? Care to explain what you mean by that?" Carlos asked.

"Takahashi Keisuke and his Project D, he is still an immature brat weather he likes it or not. I want to send him a signal that his choice was stupid and that he needs to think more! And a few other reasons are of personal concern for her and her kind." Sweeper said.

"Personal reasons for her? What has happened to the tough mercenary that lives under your skin?" Carlos asked.

"Look here Carlos, I do not have the time to discuss this with you nor will you understand it, even if I explained it for you!"

"Ok then Sweeper, you do what you do best then. I'll leave it to you then." Carlos went back to the guardrail behind the FD.

Sweeper rolled up the window and began revving his engine.  
Nobuhiko did the countdown and the 2 RX-7 launched onto the course.  
Carlos watched the 2 disappear around the corner at an amazing speed, Carlos looked down on the tarmac then he smiled.

"I know what you meant by personal concern now. You had a crush on her from the moment you first saw her in the FD, but you knew you couldn't have her and that the so called immature brat was perfect for this Takahashi Keisuke. So you want to do whatever that is in your power to unite those two. You may be harsh guy that have taken hundreds of lives, lived on the battlefield, and seen the scars of war up close but those who say you lack a heart are either lying or being ignorant. Under that cool surface is a man that still has a passion for humans, but you try to hide it. You are wrong Sweeper when saying I don't understand what you mean; the only thing I don't understand is why you are hiding that soft heart of yours." Carlos thought.

The 2 FD's were clearing corners on the bumpy course; Sweeper wasn't used to using the special accelerator manipulation technique Keisuke had used.  
But it didn't take long for him to catch on as the movement he used to manipulate the brake pedal also worked on the gas pedal.  
The black FD that was leading sure was battling hard and Sweeper was trying to keep up, but the bumps on the course were a pain in the ass like Sweeper had experienced during practice.  
The bumps upset the traction and proved to make the case of getting power to the ground difficult.  
All the torque a 4 rotor could put down due to doing twice the amount of combustions compared to a 13B proved to be difficult to keep in line.  
Because it is torque that creates wheel spin, the relationship between horsepower and torque is an interesting equation.

Torque is the force the engine makes upon combusting the fuel and air mixture, horsepower on the other hand is basically just a unit of measuring power.  
To be more precise it is basically a unit that takes the torque and multiplies it with the RPM using a formula, in other words knowing both HP and torque output of an engine you can tell if it is a high revving engine or a low RPM machine.  
If you compared the 13B in Kyoko's car and Sweeper's homemade 26B, the 13B would not rev as high as the 26B due to the lower compression.  
However the 13B would be stronger in providing more torque at the lower power band making the car easier to take off with compared to the 26B.  
The 26B on the other hand provided more torque but due to the fact that it was peripheral ported the low down power band was practically gone and a Peripheral ported rotary would never idle below 2000 RPM no matter how you tuned it.  
However since it was NA and the parts were thoroughly engineered, the 26B could rev to 12000 RPM without any problems, which was needed as Peripheral ported rotaries only offer their power band from 7000 RPM.  
The original 26B turbo that Sweeper used for street racing and track racing was engineered differently.  
It combined the strengths of a normal ported rotary with the high end power of a PP machine by having the ability to switch while driving between Peripheral ports and regular side intake ports.  
The process of opening and closing those ports were done automatically by a small homemade circuit connected to the tachometer so that it would open the Peripheral ports and close the regular ones at the 7000 RPM mark and vice versa.  
A system like that had been tried and was banned from racing shortly after its introduction.

Kyoko looked in the rear view and saw the blue FD chase her, it reminded her of Keisuke in some way, but she knew this guy wasn't Keisuke and that the FD wasn't the yellow RX-7 that Keisuke owned.  
Even so Kyoko kept having a warm feeling of some sort as if the outcome of the race didn't matter, there was something weird about the chaser, and that wasn't the loud exhaust sound.  
But even so, she still kept stepping hard on the gas pedal and cornering at her best.  
Sweeper was shocked of her speed as she dived into the corner ahead.

"She is fast! She is damn fast, this is nowhere near the calculations that Keiichi and Jane predicted from her last battle. She is going to be tough to pass but I have to do it somewhere, if I lose to her it would look really bad in the long run." Sweeper thought while braking for the corner and trying to match her entry, he kept his foot on a suspension to maintain the needed braking force without losing traction.

Even though Sweeper had retained his ABS system on the FD, the ABS is still slow about engaging so if you got some non ABS skill you can maintain traction in the short milliseconds it takes for the ABS system to correct you.  
Though Sweeper was very good at braking without ABS, he had chosen to keep the ABS system on the FD because it could do things he had no chance in doing, no matter how much he tried.  
Series 8 RX-7's that were produced from 1998 towards 2002 were equipped with 16 Bit ABS, in the earlier FD's that went from 1992 to 1997 the car had a 8 bit ABS system.  
The difference was that now on the 16Bit each tire had a channel for braking unlike the old 8 Bit where the rear tires were on the same channel.  
Having a channel for each tire allows the ABS system to brake harder on one tire than the others to allow better handling according to its programming.  
Kyoko's FD had the 8 Bit ABS so in terms of cars Sweeper's FD was a lot better at braking during cornering.  
The 16Bit ABS actually performed so good that most track racing events have banned it; its performance in a corner is miraculous.

As Kyoko looked in the rear view mirror she could see the FD close in through the corner but lose slightly on the exit due to the torque wanting to spin the wheels.  
The short straights weren't that difficult; due to the insane power of Sweeper's FD it was quick at catching up what it lost at the exit.  
While Kyoko desperately tried to get away, Sweeper was looking for an opportunity to pass her.  
Kyoko stepped hard on the gas pedal causing her rear tires to slightly lose traction over a bump, though she also were good at accelerator techniques she was getting stressed up by the chasing FD.  
Sweeper noticed the slight mistake she did.

"Trying to get away from me? I guess I should try to make an opportunity at the next straight. It is a bit bumpy but I think I should have a chance to make it past her in the corner up ahead, it is a tiny pinhole breach to get through but I don't feel like lagging behind for very long."

At the top of the hill Chang and McClintock were standing looking down the course at the 2 headlights blazing through the course.

"Is Sweeper planning to do it here? Damnit you sure like taking risks!" McClintock shouted.

"What do you mean?" Chang asked and looked at the chasing headlights.

"His exit line kinda gives it away, he is planning to get side by side with that FD girl then try to attack her from the outside, problem is that the straight is very bumpy and he will barely get side by side with her. And after that he will have to brake hard and do a turn in. It is going to be very close, one mistake and the other FD will hit his front fender and the match is over for Sweeper." McClintock replied.

"Match over? Care to explain it more?" Chang asked.

"It will be totally over! He might get a nasty understeer throwing him through the guardrail and into the valley below. But then again Sweeper is a guy that takes any chances he gets, if there is an opportunity he will take it, as long as his instinct tells him he can make it. That is not my style of driving; I like to have some margins to make it through with."

Sweeper gave as much throttle as he could with his FD on the straight; even though his 98 Type RS was 4WD equipped it was still difficult to get the power down to the ground.  
On the entry to the corner he and Kyoko were side by side for the braking contest.  
Kyoko braked earlier as she had the inside and Sweeper had more turning room so he could enter at a higher speed.  
The blue FD steered in and cut in front of Kyoko, just a millimetre in front of her fender, Kyoko jammed on the brakes in fear of crashing and the FD started to pull away.  
On the exit the FD was in the lead and started trying to outrun Kyoko much like what Keisuke had done to her in the match they had.  
2 seconds later it was all over, the match had been decided by a really close call.

At the top Sweeper parked next to Chang and McClintock, Kyoko stopped next to the FD and got out.

"You must crazy or something! That was dangerous, how much margin did you have?" Kyoko shouted angrily at Sweeper.

"1-3 millimetres I am guessing, but it was me the risk was on, if something had gone wrong it would be me that would be in trouble, not you." Sweeper replied.

"Seriously Sweeper, you shouldn't go that close." McClintock commented.

"My instincts told me to take that shot, my speed was higher than yours Kyoko, so if you had kept going at your speed instead of braking we would still come out of very nicely, a bit close though but ok."

"You are crazy." Kyoko replied.

"That's what they all say about me; just ask either Carlos or McClintock, they can confirm it." Sweeper said with a smile.

"That aside, I couldn't figure out the answer to your reasons for this battle that you mentioned before we raced."

"It is really simple; my major target is a yellow FD…" Sweeper paused.

"Darling's FD. Takahashi Keisuke right?" Kyoko asked.

"Yes, I would like you to bring him the message that his mistakes has caught up to him. If he wonders who said that, just tell him it is a guy in a blue FD, he will know who it is." Sweeper said and opened the door on his FD and got in.

"Oh and one more thing, don't worry about the fact that Keisuke turned you down back on Akagi. Yes I know about the date you two had and the fact it went in the thrash. When I heard it I kinda gave Keisuke a real scolding over the phone to the point that I hung up by throwing the phone out the window. Yes, I was very pissed when I got the news about that. Keisuke will give you a phone call when I am done, you can bet on that. There will be another date for you with him, trust me." Sweeper closed door on the FD and drove over to the mechanics.

Kyoko stood there with a rather puzzled face; rarely did strangers offer their services like Sweeper did.

"What's up with that?" McClintock said before him and Chang walked over towards the bus, leaving Kyoko and her FD alone.

"That McClintock is what the rotary owners call rotary power. The rotary power isn't just the power the engine puts out at the flywheel. But it is also the link between other rotary car owners; they tend to help each other out just because they have the same type of car. The mysterious rotary engine brings more than smooth power delivery; you should head off to a rotary meet sometime and check them out. Just leave your Skyline at home." Chang replied to McClintock.

"Never heard of that, well I guess it is like you say Chang, I haven't been to a rotary meeting as I have never owned a rotary."

"Neither have I, Sweeper invited me to one when we both were in the US, Seven Stock to be more specific." Chang said.

"Well, time to get some sleep in some crappy bus seats. Tomorrow is going to be fun." McClintock commented to himself as he looked at the bus.

Keiichi were smiling as McClintock and Chang passed by, while Jane and Sweeper were bent over the blue FD's engine bay obviously discussing rotary tech.  
Even though Kyoko had lost and she could nearly have been a murderer, she was happy.  
Because her chances of getting a date with Takahashi Keisuke was there, but she had no idea how Sweeper was planning to pull it off.  
Chang had a feint idea knowing Sweeper's style, Jane on the other hand knew what Sweeper had planned and every time she thought of it she almost felt sorry for Keisuke.  
But every time she thought of how Keisuke had treated Kyoko she knew he deserved what was coming for him.


	9. Chapter 9: The dragon awakes

Ever since the morning the team got up to the following evening it had been raining non stop.  
The course was all wet and for most drivers nobody would even dare to think of driving hard on it, they had changed course to the twistiest course in all of Saitama and this time it was downhill racing time.  
It was going to be tough on man and machine, Sweeper and Carlos were happy they were done with their battles.  
Under the protection of a plastic roof the Project S team were waiting.

"Man it is going to be difficult driving tonight." McClintock said as he watched the rain pouring onto them.

"Rain or not, I got a job to do in this rain. Where is my opponent?" Chang asked as he moved out in the rain and over to his red NSX.

Keiichi looked at his clock and shook his head, the opponents hadn't arrived yet.

"They said they would be here at 2100 hours, but I don't see them anywhere." Keiichi said.

"Maybe this massive downwash created some problems for them?" Sweeper asked.

"Well, we will have to call it quits soon unless they show up; it is already 10 minutes over." Keiichi said while looking at his watch again.

"Wouldn't that mean we have won because they never showed up?" Carlos asked.

"Technically yes, but that isn't advantageous for us to do that without racing, we need the reputation we can get from this." Keiichi replied.

Just then a light grey Altezza pulled in followed by a red Cappuccino and a white AE86 Levin.  
The cars parked close to the tables shielded by a plastic roof and Nobuhiko got out and greeted Keiichi.

"Sorry but I had to fix some drainage problems at home before I could get here, Waturo and Sakamato were helping me. That's why we are a bit late." Nobuhiko said with a sorry looking face.

"It is ok, let's just get this race over with, we will start with the downhill against the Cappuccino and your rally driver." Keiichi said.

Immediately that Keiichi mentioned the word "Rally driver", Carlos and Sweeper turned away in disgust.

"A stinking rally driver, well we got some guy who is out of his sandbox for today." Carlos commented to Sweeper.

"Oh yeah, even though he has a bit of an advantage in the rain he is still just a kid practicing around in a sandbox rather than coming out and playing with the big boys!" Sweeper replied.

Carlos and Sweeper ran back into the bus after throwing a disgusted look at the Cappuccino.  
Chang pulled out behind the Cappuccino driver since Sakamoto had chosen to chase this time again.  
Just what Keiichi had predicted, this time they were betting on Chang's talent in the rain.  
Nobuhiko went out and did the countdown and both cars launched into the darkness of the mountain pass leaving only the taillights to light up their presence in the dark until they disappeared around the first corner.  
In the meantime Sweeper had gotten back to Keiichi and Jane who were sitting and crunching numbers at the laptop.

"You really think we can win?" Keiichi asked.

"You know strategy wise, car wise it is going to be tough, the NSX is heavier than the Cappuccino…" Jane was interrupted.

"Well, if Chang begins to struggle in keeping up or if he gets pissed, his entire personality changes, there is a reason we call him the "Chinese dragon" he will drive like he was possessed by one. I can tell you right off the bat that some rally driver of any calibre will have a hard time taking out Chang when he enters that state. After all, it was the attitude change that made him Tokyo's fastest when he moved in from China." Sweeper said.

"How long have you known him?" Keiichi asked.

"Not for very long, well I guess it has been around 3 or 4 years I think, when I got my RX-7 I went out on a world conquering round heading off to the most famous areas for street racing. When I got to Tokyo I ran into Chang and beat him, it was a close match though and his driving really scared me. It is like he loses all fear and his shyness disappears like dust for a gust of wind when he gets possessed." Sweeper continued with some shivering as he remembered the race with Chang.

"Was it raining during that battle in Tokyo?" Keiichi asked.

"No thank god it was on dry tarmac, or else I would have lost badly, afterwards I saw him race some guy with an Impreza Version 6 in the rain and I was shocked at his driving. He was challenging the Impreza so badly even though the Impreza was at an advantage with 4WD. Not only that, he also shows great skill controlling that midship monster of his. Weather it is rain, snow or dry tarmac he can still make the car run as he wants it to."

"A midship is difficult to drive and he doesn't act like the type to actually control a midship like you describe. He seems dangerously calm; he doesn't seem aggressive at all. He is like a shy type, most people I see that are like that, they tend to spin out with midships." Jane commented.

"That is Chang for you, he looks shy and acts shy until the moment he changes, once he changes to his so called "dragon state" he isn't necessarily the best driver for a midship so to speak, but he can still drive it remarkably well. He is stupidly fast once he gets fired up, take my word for it!" Sweeper said while looking towards the corner that the 2 cars had disappeared around.

Down the course the Cappuccino were leading with Chang following closely at his tail.  
The Supercharged NSX had a lot of power at the low end thanks to the super charger and some high end power making it a touge weapon.  
Sakamoto looked in the rear view to see the flip up lights of the NSX following him.

"A NSX has a lot more power than me, but it is still heavier so I will make my move in the corners, I will have to try and outrun him as early as possible to prevent the same situation as the race with the AE86." Sakamoto thought and stepped on the gas pedal before starting with his rally cornering.

Chang was shocked by the entry speed of the Cappuccino and the distance began broadening between the two cars.  
The NSX was running grip driving up to this point with a lot smaller tires than what they normally used to maintain control and prevent hydroplaning situations.

"I can't keep up with that rally driver! He is fast, will I lose this battle?" Chang asked himself as he kept chasing the Cappuccino that was broadening the distance at the corner entry.

Sakamoto was smiling as he noticed the NSX wasn't keeping up.

"You are too heavy; up on the mountain pass in the rain weight is important. I will keep running away from you, see you at the finish line." Sakamoto thought.

Sakamoto drifted into two more corners and noticed that the NSX was far behind now, almost in the threshold where the race would end.  
However in the NSX, Chang's expression changed to a much more serious face than the more fearful expression he had normally.  
He begun stepping hard on the accelerator and his line and driving style changed drastically.  
The dragon had awoken, Chang was now driving at his best, at the limit of what his NSX could take both power wise and cornering wise.  
He threw the NSX sideways into the corners much like rally drivers did, just with much more precision.  
The gap between the Cappuccino and the NSX begun to close up, the NSX was catching up.  
Sakamoto was still smiling until he looked in the rear view mirror and noticed the NSX was a lot closer than it was the last time.

"What the… How did you catch my car like that? I am driving at my best here and yet that heavy brick of yours can keep up!" Sakamoto was frustrated and begun pushing harder to try and get rid of the NSX.

In the corner, Sakamoto braked late and threw the car sideways in the best drift he could applying minimal counter steer.  
Chang braked slightly earlier but dived into the corner at a breathtaking speed with his NSX and opened the gas pedal early to use as much of the power as possible.  
On the top of the hill Jane was a bit puzzled with what Sweeper had explained earlier so she asked him to explain it again.

"Did you mean that he would literally be possessed?" Jane asked.

"No, it is a figure of speech, probably the best way we can explain it. He just acts like it so to speak, there is nothing inside him so to speak, and it is still Chang if you get what I mean."

Keiichi were talking on the cell phone and his expression changed to a shocked face.  
After he hung up he turned towards Jane and Sweeper.

"The Cappuccino isn't pulling away from the NSX like it did earlier, in fact it is shortening, and they say the NSX driver has gone nuts. It is like he has no fear of the rain." Keiichi spoke while shivering slightly.

"So it has happened he awoke the dragon from its sleep. Chang got no fear once he enters that state of mind, he can still feel the limit of his car and determine the best way to attack however. This is what Chang loved with the mountain passes back in his day, I just hope this will clear his mind a bit, that he will finally realize there was nothing he could have done." Sweeper said.

On the course the NSX was now right on top of the Cappuccino, in the middle of the wash from the car in front.  
But Chang wasn't affected; he had memorized the course during practice and was driving after that image.  
Because when Chang was pushed, his concentration would reach very high level, after Project D did their races a lot of people said Chang was a lot like their AE86 driver in that aspect.  
He usually denied such accusations saying that there was no relation between them, but when he entered his possessed state, they were quite similar.

Sakamoto were now desperately trying to shake the NSX, it was pushing him really hard and that was going to be Sakamoto's fate.  
On the next corner Sakamoto braked too late from the pressure applied behind and under steered badly towards the outside.  
Chang saw the opportunity and did his attack, pushing hard and blowing by Sakamoto as he was trying to recover.  
Sakamoto was passed just as he barely dodged the gutter while braking desperately to get traction again.

"DAMNIT, I lost the race!" Sakamoto cried out as he let go of the gas pedal.

At the bottom Chang had parked his NSX and were looking at the steering wheel, while thinking.

"I did it; I never thought I would ever get that feeling again. Mountain passes are funny to drive, the thrill of high speed cornering and the timing of throttle and brake, the factors that kept me going at it back then, they are coming back." Chang thought.

15 minutes later the rest of the team had arrived at the bottom settling in for the hill climb.  
The Saitama guys had gathered around Sakamoto to make him explain how they could have lost.

"How did he pass you?" Nobuhiko asked.

"I under steered badly in a corner and he attacked it, though in the first place he was quick at catching up, just like he had no fear of pushing that hard. It was like racing a demon of some sort." Sakamoto explained.

"A demon, I guess there is truth to the rumours I have heard." Waturo spoke lightly.

"Rumours? What kind of rumours?" Nobuhiko and Sakamoto asked.

"The guy you raced is called the "Chinese Dragon" those who has raced him and managed to push him hard, either making him pissed off or pulling away too much, it was like they had done a driver swap while driving, The guy they were racing changed his driving style completely, and they say he is godlike in the rain. Some guys have nicknamed him "God Rain" because he literally has no fear of driving in the rain." Waturo said while looking over at Chang sitting in his NSX.

"God Rain, I have heard a few drivers getting such nicknames but I didn't know of any God Rain. Neither have I heard of the "Chinese Dragon", know how he got that nickname?" Nobuhiko asked Waturo.

"Well he is Chinese by origin, and in China dragons have a special reputation and are highly liked. And they are also considered to be fearless creatures. Hence why they gave him the nickname after his first few races in Tokyo with his Nissan Stagea 260RS." Waturo replied.

"STAGEA? Isn't that a heavy ass Station Wagon?" Sakamoto asked.

"He raced it in the streets, he stopped using after getting a NSX I heard, I don't know about him now but he did have his own racing team consisting only of Honda NSXs. But that team disappeared after a battle I heard, I have no idea what happened in that battle though but something did happen." Waturo replied.

Sweeper parked his FD near Chang's NSX, as he looked out the passenger side window he saw Chang just sitting there in his NSX.  
Quickly Sweeper got out of his RX-7 and moved over to the NSX getting in on the passenger side.

"Mighty fine race there Chang; you are just as impressive as ever!" Sweeper said while smiling to Chang.

"I think… I think I am starting to like this mountain pass racing again Sweeper." Chang replied as he turned his head towards Sweeper.

"That is good, the incident wasn't your fault, I am sure you are starting to get it now, don't you?" Sweeper asked.

"Somewhat, that Cappuccino driver gave me a few clues, but I still feel guilty."

"Forget about that for now Chang, it is time for McClintock vs. that AE86 guy." Sweeper said and got out of the NSX, Chang hesitated for a while before he got out and both of them ran over to Keiichi and Jane hiding under an umbrella each.

On the road, Waturo had gotten ready for a battle with the R34 GT-R.  
McClintock had lined up his R34 for leading in the first run; this was going to be a battle of response.


	10. Chapter 10: Battle of response

Chapter 10: Battle of response, the R34's secret weapon unveils itself.

-

Keiichi were watching the two cars getting ready to race with a slightly worried look on his face.  
Jane did the countdown and the two cars launched, the R34 had a lot better start than the AE86 thanks to its 4WD system.  
As Jane got back, Carlos was wondering a bit.

"Does McClintock stand any chance at all? I mean his R34 is fast but after all it is single turbo, I have twin turbo!" Carlos asked Sweeper.

"McClintock will be allright, you didn't check out his car now did you Carlos?"

"What do you mean Sweeper?" Carlos asked.

"First hint is the steering wheel, there were 2 gauges mounted there, one is the normal and standard boost gauge that even you have installed, the 2nd is the key to this race." Sweeper smiled.

"I don't understand why he has two boost gauges? Surely the both of us don't trust the stock boost gauge in our state of tune but still I don't get it."

"Well the gauges were hint nr 1; hint nr 2 is what he has in the backseat and the trunk."

"You don't mean that he has a…" Carlos stopped.

"Yes, he has a nitrous oxide system installed in his car, but it is rigged in a different way than most other systems and the systems you see used on the track. The basic way that exhausts gasses flow works on a turbo car is that the lag comes when you let off the gas pedal and steps on it again. It is not when the boost comes down; there is a difference between boost threshold and lag. Most people call the low down area where a turbo NEVER will make boost no matter how hard you step on the gas pedal or remain there for lag. That is wrong, that is being outside the boost threshold, and the lag is what occurs in the threshold when lifting off the gas pedal." Sweeper was interrupted

"Yeah, yeah I know that, skip to the point of his modifications."

"Well basically the larger engine you have, the shorter the spooling time for a turbo of the same size will be. That is where McClintock's nitrous system comes in. It is linked to the gas pedal, the moment he lets off in a corner and brakes the turbo begins to slow down on its RPM. But the moment he plant his foot again, that is when the system goes to work, spraying the turbo up to speed using nitrous and the 2nd boost gauge shows the nitrous flow. The moment the turbo is back in its optimal RPM the nitrous flow is cut electronically keeping the car in boost. It is still slightly slower than a NA but the main power of a single turbo is retained. That is McClintock's secret weapon with his R34, many frowned at his single turbo until they were blown at mid corner acceleration even though his opponents had twin turbo."

"Nitrous is considered taboo for mountain pass racing you now." Chang shot into the discussion.

"Oh yeah, that's another aspect of it, constant nitrous boost tends to be kinda bad, especially when triggered in a corner it may cause the tires to lose their grip on the road. But in McClintock's case they don't, his rigging is very interesting, you can somewhat say it is a poor mans anti lag system since he doesn't have to run out and buy a new turbo after each race. All he has to do after some time is refill the nitrous."

"The real question here is if he carries enough." Carlos asked.

"That won't be much of a problem, well not unless this match REALLY drags out, he has ripped out the rear seats of his Skyline to fill it with nitrous bottles, then the trunk is also nitrous storage for him. He should have enough to carry him to the end… I hope." Sweeper replied.

Waturo watched the R34 dive into the corners much slower than his AE86, but at the exit he had no chance of winning.  
From mid corner towards the exit, the blue R34 GT-R was the fastest car, the ATTESA ET-S combined with the nitrous system proved to be an enormous advantage.  
Waturo began thinking as he chased the GT-R and caught up at the next corner entry.

"I can win on corner entry but he pulls away from mid corner and outwards. But still it is a GT-R, and GT-R's are heavy, judging from his entry, the massive mass from the car is bit much for his tires to cope with, if I can stretch this match out, I will have the advantage!" Waturo stepped on it trying to get closer to McClintock and his R34.

McClintock was keeping it cool, and making sure he had the advantage on the exit by taking a wide line to accelerate as much as possible.  
But on every corner entry he kept feeling the lack of grip, the road was wet so to avoid hydroplaning the team had gone with smaller tires, which meant loss of grip and increased tire temperature.  
McClintock were also taking it easy, keeping the rear planted while cornering, the AE86 were drifting after him.  
On the bottom of the hill Carlos asked Sweeper.

"Do you think he understood anything of my tutoring on drifting?"

"Well, McClintock is a bit like that Sudo Kyoichi from Irohazaka, he likes to play it safe and secure during his races. Well to some point anyways, his main strategy is kinda interesting though." Sweeper replied while smiling a bit.

"What's up with that smile? What is his strategy?" Carlos asked.

"The whole trick to his "safe" driving is just when the opponent thinks the guy is driving the safest and surest way, McClintock will change into a risk taker and greatly increases his speed. While the opponent is dazed, that is when he begins to pull away."

Time drew out in the race and they reached the end of the track where they changed positions and went onto the course again.  
McClintock was still keeping up the pace, even though it was raining.  
Most drivers would lose concentration at this moment but McClintock was surprisingly cool.  
As the two cars launched at the course for the 2nd run, Keiichi began to worry again.

"His strategy is to pull this race out, just like the last time against Takahashi Keisuke! Is McClintock up to it?" Keiichi asked Jane.

"I don't know, but I do know his tires will not last a 3rd considering the way he is using them, he is putting a lot of strain on them with all the acceleration he is doing." Jane replied a bit worried as she kept running the simulations.

"Don't worry, now that McClintock is chasing he is going to attack." Sweeper said.

"How can you say that? There are a lot of corners and that GT-R is heavy, if it was dry and he could have used the wider tires, he would win in corners but the way it is now. It is hopeless there, the course also lack straights to attack on." Jane replied.

"Well he has 2 ways to do it, and knowing McClintock I think he will use them both to win, he will now about his tires at this moment though. He will understand that he needs to finish it now if he hopes to win. So way nr 1 is to use fierce acceleration power at the corner exit by opening the throttle wide and hope the acceleration is enough to put the Levin a bit distance behind him. The other one is to fool the Levin driver." Sweeper replied.

"Fool him? But how?" Keiichi asked.

"You know the strategies; you should understand what I mean, especially if I mention his "safe" way of driving."

"I think I get it." Keiichi said and laughed silently of his own stupidity earlier.

"It is so simple it is something I lost in my calculations. He left the impression on the Levin driver that he wasn't interested in taking chances in the first run. Therefore the Levin will open the inside corner quite a bit but not enough to fit McClintock for his "safe" driving style. However, that is when the risk taker comes out. Right?" Keiichi turned towards Sweeper and smiled.

"Yes, he will attack at such a chance, get ahead and block the Levin from a counter attack. That will be the victory here!" Sweeper said.

McClintock was busy turning the wheel and pumping the brake but the input from the front tires were getting weaker.

"My tires are about to give up, the front tires especially, been putting a lot of load on them up to now, pushing hard in the rain like I do will really wear on the tires. If I don't end it this round and quickly, the race will be over. I hate the rain when I have to run with smaller tires." McClintock thought.

In the Levin in front, Waturo was feeling confident, he had guessed that the GT-R would start running out of grip on his tires, especially the front after pushing so far.  
All he had to do was to up the pace, increase the speed he kept through corners, use the outside a bit more than what he had done up till now.  
Waturo begun to steer outwards towards the next corner and were preparing for a braking drift into the corner to set the car up for the exit and accelerate away from the GT-R, and end it while it was still struggling with the corner.  
On the bottom of the hill Chang was puzzled with a question.

"But tell me, what about late braking, if the GT-R is heavier than the AE86, wouldn't it lose in a braking contest?" Chang asked.

"Well, that depends, the GT-R is said to be a monstrous braking machine, and it will stop quickly despite being as heavy as it is. It's braking force is intense, I can tell that from personal experience." Sweeper said.

"But that wouldn't go for every GT-R would it?" Chang asked.

"Well, each car will act differently pending on how it is tuned, but the GT-R McClintock is driving, I can tell exactly what it will do, because I have owned it." Sweeper replied while looking at his FD.

"You owned a GT-R?" Chang asked.

"Yes, I owned that specific Bayside Blue R Thirty-Four GT-R Vspec. I didn't own it very long though, I didn't like the handling of it and I still don't like it today." Sweeper said.

"That's right; you just cannot leave your rotaries alone eh?" Carlos asked with a grin.

"Hey Carlos, want to repeat that race in Brazil again?" Sweeper asked as a counter question.

"HELL NO! I underestimated rotaries once, and I will not do it again. The car you got is damn fast; I never feared any rotary car up till that race with you. I thought I was going to beat you and your FD in a flash, but I ended up staring at your taillights." Carlos said with a bit softer voice.

"Anyways, McClintock should be able to win on the braking contest into the corner, I am sure he has even improved the brakes since I owned the car." Sweeper commented.

Just as Waturo was slamming on the brakes he looked in his rear view, but the GT-R was gone.  
Looking out the passenger window he saw the GT-R pulling up aside him while braking, the GT-R was attempting to out brake him, even though it was a close call as the distance to the guardrail was very low, one miss on the turn in and it would all be over.  
The GT-R quickly dumped the speed down to acceptable level for cornering and blew through the corner with the Levin lighting up the passenger door with its headlights.  
It was an amazing sight; the GT-R was grip driving with the Levin running sideways in the other lane.

"This is going to be close!" McClintock waited out the corner; the seconds it took seemed like hours, it was now time to bet it all on one card.

Waturo begun accelerating harder for the exit since the outside has more room for reaction but further distance to travel, McClintock were still waiting a few more milliseconds before McClintock slammed the accelerator to the floor.  
The heavy GT-R accelerated and did a mad dash out of the corner, taking the grip of the tires to their limit; the AE86 that was on the passenger side of the GT-R was being dusted quickly.  
The nitrous valve sprung open and made the single turbo spool up to effective RPM providing maximum power quickly and effectively.  
Waturo watched in shock as the GT-R rapidly pulled in front, even though his throttle was wide open, the GT-R was still faster.

"DAMN, the GT-R sure is a traction monster; it is fast as hell, a true toy to the rich kids!" Waturo shouted out and cursed as he had lost the race in that overtaking.

As the 2 drivers got back down the Saitama team had already heard the news and were clearly disappointed.  
Sweeper turned towards McClintock and smiled.

"You said I was too close, what about yourself, I heard it all! Mr. I-want-to-play-it-safe."

"Umm, well, what can I say? It just turned out that way, I saw an opening and I had to take it or else it would all be lost." McClintock replied.

"How close to the guardrail?" Sweeper asked.

"About 0.5 mm I guess or 1 Cm didn't look too much at it really." McClintock replied.

Jane went over to the GT-R and checked the tires, she quickly screamed out.

"Who the hell put the soft compound tires on for this race? I think I clearly said we were going with hard compound tires. ESPECIALLY during a race that had every chance of being an endurance race and with these smaller tires. Who was responsible for putting these on?" Jane was screaming out to the mechanics.

One of the guys were a black boiler suit stepped out, McClintock's chief mechanic.

"It was me, Yoko Onagi…" The mechanic was interrupted.

"I told him to put them on! I wanted to run on some compound and try to finish it early." McClintock interrupted Yoko.

"Well, just don't do something like that again! I don't like playing with such close margins, with Sweeper it is ok, because he always knows how to manage his tire grip to catch up after mistakes. But in a situation were your tires are giving up there isn't a lot you can do, is there?" Jane shouted at McClintock.

"I hear you! No need to keep shouting at me. JEEZ!" McClintock turned and walked towards the bus, Jane was about to stop him when Sweeper put an arm on her shoulder.

"Let him go, it turned out well after all, no need to keep yelling at him over it. He will not do it again anyways. Besides I think he did the right thing, I might have done the same thing as he did. He was betting on his image the first round. He saw he couldn't win the safe way so he did it slightly more risky. And he won; there is no need to keep yelling at him for it." Sweeper said.

"Well I have gotten SOMEWHAT used to live with you and Carlos' wildness, I don't feel like having another "rouge" driver like you two." Jane replied.

"Ah, don't worry about that. McClintock is a heavy team player. Whatever he does, do have a reason you know." Sweeper said.

Jane threw off Sweeper's hand and sat back down in her chair again while Keiichi begun to bark out orders to the mechanics.  
Saitama area was finally completed, at least for now.  
It was time to head back to Tokyo and try to knock down another week.


	11. Chapter 11: Date with the Yakuza

Monday came and Carlos and Sweeper got up early for a breakfast, McClintock on the other hand was still sleeping.  
Chang was the only driver that didn't sleep in a cabin like the other 3; he had his own place in Tokyo that he returned to on evenings and during weekdays.  
After all, he still had to run a bar in downtown Tokyo, even though all he did was the paper work.  
It was summer so Carlos, Sweeper, Keiichi and Jane were sitting outside around the table eating their breakfast.

"Care to pass me the cheese Sweeper?" Carlos asked.

"Sorry Carlos, it isn't over here." Sweeper replied.

"Ah come on, I know you like cheese! It is behind the milk over there, just hand it over." Carlos asked with a bit serious voice.

"It isn't here" Sweeper moved the milk to show Carlos.

"WHAT?" Carlos looked shocked.

"I think McClintock took the last part of it for his cheese sandwich last night." Jane said to Carlos.

"DAMN…" Carlos paused for a while "I really want cheese you know, I don't feel like something else this morning. Hey Sweeper, you mind heading out for a ride with me?" Carlos asked.

"Take a ride with you? Why should I ride with you? Can't you just head out and get the cheese yourself?" Sweeper asked.

"Well, you haven't eaten much already now have you? I thought of getting something else to eat in town as well as the cheese. Judging from the way you view this breakfast table, I am sure you feel like getting something too." Carlos grinned.

"OK! Let's go for a ride then, but give me a minute first, I need to get something from my cabin." Sweeper threw the napkin onto the plate and headed into his cabin.

1 minute later, Sweeper came running out with a small bag that he threw in the backseat of Carlos' GT-R.

"What do you need that for?" Carlos asked.

"Just a bad feeling I got for today, and I have learned to trust those feelings." Sweeper replied.

They both got into the Skyline and buckled into the bucket seats.

Carlos fired up the engine and the Skyline pulled onto the road, disappearing quickly.

"Jeez, that Carlos guy is a weird one." Keiichi said while taking a bite off the slice of bread.

"Yeah, just don't tell him that, his work is kinda weird as well. I am puzzled how he and Sweeper can hang together like best friends though." Jane replied.

"Strange type of work? Ok, I don't want to hear about it." Keiichi replied.

Carlos chose a slight backstreet where there rarely was traffic.  
Sweeper turned towards Carlos.

"May I ask why we are taking this street?" Sweeper asked.

"Well, there is a shop here that is said to sell some really good European food, too bad it is in a bad neighbourhood like this. I am pretty sure that will suit both of our tastes eh? Rather than some Japanese Sushi."

"Well I suppose yo…" Sweeper stopped mid sentence as he spotted a familiar red Lancia 037 with several black dressed guys involved in a great fight.

"I said this was a bad neighbourhood." Carlos said.

"That's not what shocks me, isn't that Sagara's Lancia 037? I am pretty sure it is." Sweeper said while pointing.

"Damn right it is!" Carlos slammed on the brakes and pulled over.

"Sometimes it helps to trust your gut feeling!" Sweeper reached into the backseat to pull out the bag.

"Don't tell me you bring your tools of the trade here?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, I did do that; don't ask me how I get them through the customs. It is a trick to the trade." Sweeper pulled out a bandolier and an AKSU-74 shortened assault rifle, the weapon of choice of the Russian Spetsnaz.

Sagara had already knocked out 4 of the Yakuza's but they had him outnumbered, Sagara were in the shop buying a few things that he wanted and when he got out the Yakuza's ambushed him.  
It was payback time for them, and even though Sagara knew how to fight, they still had the numbers on their side.  
3 Yakuzas threw Sagara onto the hood of Lancia and drew a knife.

"This is payback time Sagara!" The leader said while holding his hand around Sagara's throat while 3 others kept his hands and feet under control.

That was when the rest of the Yakuzas noticed the black GT-R and the 2 guys getting out of the car.

"Get out of here! This is none of your business! HEY, didn't you guys hear me? You got shit for brains?" One of the Yakuza's shouted out on English as the 2 clearly showed a lack of Japanese understanding and characteristics.

Sweeper turned towards Carlos.

"Did he just say we had shit for brains?" Sweeper asked Carlos.

"Well, I am pretty sure that's what he said." Carlos replied.

"That makes it clear then!" Sweeper said and turned towards the Yakuza.

"Guess again bozo! We are not walking away from here, rather I suggest you guys do before all hell breaks loose!" Sweeper shouted out.

"You guys really like trouble eh?" The Yakuza replied and pulled out his gun.

Carlos pulled his left hand out of the car and showed a MP5K Sub Machine gun, quickly pointing it at the Yakuza.

"I suggest you guys get the fuck out of here before I turn you guys into Swiss cheese." Carlos shouted back at the Yakuza.

That was the signal to the rest of the Yakuzas involved in the ambush.  
They drew their Uzi's and aimed at Carlos and Sweeper.  
Carlos dived towards the right of the street and into and alley.  
Sweeper on the other hand disappeared behind a thrash container as the bullets began filling the sky.  
A lot of metallic rattling sounds could be heard as the bullets impacted in the thrash container.  
Carlos on the other hand was facing dust from the concrete building.

"Damnit Sweeper! I have never had such bad odds as this!" Carlos shouted over the gunfire at Sweeper.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped then, after all I am a shit magnet." Sweeper pulled off the jacket and revealed the bandolier with a few goodies attached to it.

Sweeper pulled the pin on a flash bang and threw it over the dumpster, and waited for the bang.  
The bang could be heard as well as the screams of the Yakuzas covering their eyes.  
Both Carlos and Sweeper dived around the corner and opened up at them with their weapons.  
The AKSU-74 kept spitting 5.45mm rounds and the Yakuzas covering their eyes.  
In the confusion Sagara had gotten loose and begun to beat up the Yakuzas in close proximity.  
The fight had practically ended when the flash bang went off; it had caught the Yakuza by surprise.  
Those who could were now running away from the scene; however most of them had been shot on site.

Carlos ran over to Sweeper who was unloading the AKSU-74.

"Damn, you sure know how to turn to the tables Sweeper, where did you learn those tricks? Oh never mind, I already know the answer." Carlos said and turned towards Sagara, a bit beaten up but otherwise ok.

"You allright?" Sweeper asked in rather broken Japanese.

"Fine, thank you! Would have been worse if you guys hadn't showed up though." Sagara replied in English.

"You are that Sagara guy? Tokyo's fastest right?" Sweeper asked.

"You guys street racers? Well I WAS Tokyo's fastest, I lost that title recently." Sagara replied.

"Yes, we are Street Racers, even though the guy over there sure isn't dressed like one right now. You lost the title? How did you do that?" Carlos asked.

"A team named Conquerors did it; they completely outran me and the rest of my team on the Wangan." Sagara said with a bit sad voice.

"Conquerors? Sounds interesting…" Sweeper was interrupted.

"I don't care about interesting; they can be as interesting as they want to be. But let me tell you this, I was hoping to get a race with you Sagara…" Sweeper interrupted Carlos.

"Do you ALWAYS have to sound so damn rude Carlos?" Sweeper asked Carlos.

"I am a bit annoyed here! Something like that you have to understand." Carlos replied.

"Just shut up for now, ok Carlos? Good, well, we originally wanted to race the fastest in Tokyo, I raced the fastest guy in town a few years earlier. His name was Chang, better known as the "Chinese dragon" heard of him?" Sweeper asked Sagara.

"I have heard of him, but never seen him, I have had a hard time matching his course records on the Wangan however, I managed to beat the times a while ago, it was tough but it was worth it, what is he up to these days?" Sagara asked.

"Well Chang is kinda a bit under the weather, have been like that since he went mountain pass racing outside Tokyo a while ago. I am not sure how active he has been in street racing on the Wangan though. However, if you got time I suggest you run by his bar downtown. It is pretty hard to miss actually, but back onto the matter we were discussing. I have to ask you another question, have you heard of the World Cup?" Sweeper asked Sagara.

"World Cup? Can't say I have heard of it, but that guy next to you looks familiar, some of my friends talked about a guy looking like that and driving a black R34 GT-R Vspec 2. Brazil's fastest, also known as "Speedy Gonzales", am I right?" Sagara asked Carlos.

"Yeah, I can never get rid of that "Speedy Gonzales" nickname now can I? I was Brazil's fastest until I ran into Sweeper here." Carlos answered with a bit enthusiasm.

"Anyways, I am pretty sure you have heard of Project S by now then, we both are racing for that team, however that is during weekends. So we usually get bored during the week days, which are why we thought the Wangan racing would be a great distraction for some time at least, however seeing as these Conquerors sounds so well how can I put it, fast. We would like to act as reinforcement for your team if that is allright with you Sagara." Sweeper commented.

"We suspect they may have a lot of cars and the races can take a while, but what are your true machines? According to what the rumours say about Project S all you got is a 600 HP RB26DETT from Mine's and a 600 HP NA 4 rotor. I don't think that will work well on the Wangan against those guys." Sagara said with a bit concern.

"We are aware of that, that is why Carlos brought his 1500 HP RB26 motor that he normally uses, I brought my 4 rotor turbo as well which is rated at 1200 HP. We are both very familiar with street racing or highway racing as you put it, that's what these machines were originally built for, the motors we currently have in our cars are just for the mountain passes." Sweeper replied.

"Didn't seem like that, when the black GT-R blew past me on the Wangan." Sagara replied with a smile.

"Well, Carlos loves to play around; he is more like a little kid sometimes. He were just testing the Mine's engine on the highway. I hope you didn't take that too seriously." Sweeper said.

"Nah, not at all, I wasn't interested in racing a car like that anyways that night. Well anyways, got any way to contact you if I need you guys to show up?" Sagara asked.

"Well, take my card." Sweeper handed Sagara a card with the cell phone number and house number on it. "Just call the cell phone, not the home number; else there will be no reply. I am in Japan, not Turkey at the moment." Sweeper smiled back at Sagara.

"Ok then, I will stay in touch then. Once more, thank you for your help." Sagara said as he got into his Lancia and took off.

Carlos turned towards Sweeper.

"I don't remember agreeing to a deal with you and joining his team as reinforcements." Carlos sputtered out.

"Shut up Carlos, I know what you were thinking when I said that. You were thrilled at the idea weren't you? Besides, it gives you a battle that you desire so much." Sweeper replied.

"Ok, you got me!" Carlos replied.

"Let's just get what we came for and head back!" Sweeper said to Carlos and headed for the black Skyline.

Carlos followed Sweeper and got into the drivers seat and drove further down the street to the shop.  
Carlos then went out and put an order and got it nearly right away.  
As soon as he came out of the shop, Carlos knocked on the passenger window and served Sweeper his meal through the window before he got into the drivers seat.

"Do we still need to get that cursed cheese?" Sweeper asked as he took a bite.

"Nah, I already got it in that shop; they do some groceries as well." Carlos replied before starting the engine and heading back to the camp.


	12. Chapter 12: Meet some old buddies

**Chapter 12: Meet some old buddies of mine**

-

Later that night it was off to Chang's nightclub, this night Chang had promised something special for Sweeper, Carlos and McClintock.  
This time they had gotten a very large table, Sweeper looked around but there was nothing new, so he turned towards Chang again.

"I don't see anything special here, what was it you promised us?" Sweeper asked.

"They must be running late tonight, I thought you would like to meet them." Chang replied.

"Meet who? Who are you talking about?" Sweeper asked.

"I doubt you have met them before, well I invited all of them, EXCEPT one person, which I am sure you already know of Sweeper." Chang replied.

Just then they heard a familiar engine sounds, they came from the 3179cc Honda engine, an engine that came equipped in the Honda NSX.  
The NSX' found a parking spot and the engines died down, shortly after 3 persons came through the door.

"Hey, over here!" Chang shouted out while waving at them.

The 3 persons got down by the table and Chang talked briefly with them on Japanese.  
One of them didn't look Japanese but he understood and spoke the language fairly well.

"Meet some old buddies of mine; this is Koji Tashiro, Sam Walker and finally Sakura Tanaka. They are or perhaps were members of my NSX team that we ran back then." Chang said with some pride in his voice.

"That's not entirely correct, we never disbanded the team officially, we just stopped racing together after that incident. We went on our own business after that." Koji said.

"I didn't know of any female NSX drivers." Carlos said while looking at Sakura.

"Don't get any ideas there mister!" Sakura replied with a sharp voice.

"Oh and before I forget, may I introduce you guys to my friends here. This is Carlos, better known as "Speedy Gonzales" or Brazil's fastest." Chang said while pointing at Carlos.

"This is McClintock, he is pretty fast too. His first name is actually Bain, but he prefers going by just McClintock so please call him that." Chang pointed at McClintock.

"This is probably a guy that is most known for his reckless driving and will to conquer titles. This man is perhaps a guy you can call a rotary specialist. He goes by the call sign of Sweeper; don't ask me why he prefers that over his real name, but that is him though." Carlos pointed at Sweeper.

"Let's not go over the top on reckless driving part there. There may be someone here that may beat me in that area!" Sweeper turned towards Carlos.

Carlos responded with a loud laughter, the rest of the table quickly followed suit.

"Finally Team Venom is gathered again, though we are now just 4 and not 5." Chang said.

"What happened to the fifth member?" McClintock asked.

"Seriously you need to pay more attention McClintock, anyways; the fifth member was Sinjo. He was responsible for the death of a racer on a mountain pass. That was the incident that made Chang retire from mountain pass racing." Sweeper said.

"That night will forever be carved into my mind." Sakura said while looking down on the table.

"Yeah it was awful, I came to the site after the crash and it sure wasn't a pretty sight." Sam said with his American accent.

"If there is one guy in the world that is truly evil it is Sinjo. He was actually smiling, even after he got the message of the R33 driver's death. I swear if I ever see that bastard again, I will run him off a cliff!" Koji said with anger in his voice.

"How did Sinjo get involved in the R33's crash? I mean, what did he do?" McClintock asked.

"Sinjo is an evil man with a love for brake sabotage." Koji replied.

"To be more specific, he has a lot of these remote controlled valves. He installs the valve onto the brake lines when the car is unwatched, so that during the race, all he has to do is press a button on a remote and it is bye, bye brakes. After the crash he removes the valve and makes it look like an ordinary incident of reckless driving. Clever way to get away with murder and that man has no regret for what he does either." Chang finished with some regret in his voice.

"Didn't Chang hint that you Sweeper ran into this Sinjo guy as well?" Carlos asked.

"Yes I ran into him, and it costed me FD repairs as well." Sweeper started.

"What did he do?" Koji asked.

"Well his usual brake sabotage, luckily I noticed it early because I accidentally touched the brake pedal on a straight and it felt rather soft. Depressing it I noticed the brakes were really out of order. I managed to dump a lot speed in other methods though, actively engine braking and using the handbrake so I managed to minimize the crash damage, however it still costed me a new front rotor housing, hood, front bumper, headlights and front fenders with accessories." Sweeper said.

"When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?" Carlos got all fired up.

"It is history; I didn't really think it was necessary to tell you such things." Sweeper replied.

"If you had I would have put some of my boys on him and given him a lesson he wouldn't be likely to forget!" Carlos sputtered out.

"I could have done that myself if I wanted to, but anyways what is Sinjo doing these days?" Sweeper asked.

"I heard he was operating in the mountain passes near Tokyo, The pass near Kenji doesn't have any racers, and most do the Wangan in town rather than the pass anyways. So only the rejects like Sinjo heads over there. Last thing I heard was that Sinjo had joined forces with some guy called Norio Takeshi. Takeshi should be a perfect match for Sinjo though." Chang said.

"Norio Takeshi, I know of him, he loves tail tapping other cars when racing. Last thing I heard was that he had gotten a carbon fibre mod to his white Supra, but he has a metal front bumper, since he doesn't want the carbon fibre shattering every time he tail taps an opponent." Sam said while describing the tail tapping with hand movements.

"The funny part about those guys is their team's name. They are known as the unknown team since they change their name so often that nobody keeps track of it. I bet that not even Norio or Sinjo knows what their teams name is. They have to do it to get racers to race, most local people know about the pass around Kenji's place and they know it is a dangerous place if you are a racer. They shy it like it carried the plague. Can't say I blame them, after all those two are really a pain in the butt to cope with, and the rest of their team mates are of the same class, racers that cannot be successful in either mountain pass racing or on the Wangan. Racer's that are despised or looked down upon due to nasty tactics used or if they have been thrown out of other teams." Sakura spoke softly.

"Well enough about Sinjo, let's change topic, what kind of cars do you guys drive?" Sam asked.

"I and McClintock both drive R34 GT-R's; I drive a Vspec 2 while he drives a regular Vspec. I have 2 engines that I use for different types of races." Carlos said.

"What kind of modifications have you done? If you have done any that is." Sam asked.

"It sure isn't stock for both us! My current engine that I use for the passes is a Mine's response config, around 600 HP or with some boost increases. My other engine is what I use for the streets. Total RB26DETT remake, 1500 horsepower, nothing is stock, not even the block is stock anymore, it have been remade in much more solid material to be reliable, costly but effective when it comes to claiming victory on the streets." Carlos spoke up with pride.

"My R34 runs a single turbo, actually the same turbo that Sweeper installed in the car when he owned it. I just changed some other parts, will change the rest of the machine as I plan to up the power for the streets though. To counter the lag from the turbo I rely on nitrous oxide, a very effective weapon on the Touge." McClintock spoke up.

"Single turbo eh? Sounds just like my NSX that." Sam said with great interest.

"You can talk about the single turbo afterwards, now I want to hear what the specialist has under the hood!" Sakura said annoyingly at Sam.

"Well, I run a two engine config like Carlos, both engines are 4 rotor ones. A 4 rotor NA with Peripheral Ports for the passes pushes out around 600 horses as well, but less torque than Carlos. My other engine is a 1200 HP monstrous 4 rotor engine, also peripheral ported, however it carries a turbo charger instead of being NA, twin turbos actually. I have done lots of modifications to that engine as well, one is the ports since it is not all PP like the 4 rotor NA, I like to call it variable port control, but it is actually very simple in design." Sweeper said while making hand motions describing rotary engines and how they work.

The 7 people kept talking of cars the rest of the evening; however in Akagi action was brewing.  
The doorbell at the Takahashi residence rang and Keisuke went to open.  
Outside he saw a familiar car and girl, it was Kyoko.

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from me?" Keisuke asked.

"That's not why I came…" Kyoko said lightly.

"No matter what it is, just leave." Keisuke replied with slight anger in his voice.

"I got to tell you something, it is about the blue FD." Kyoko said.

Keisuke froze in his tracks, the images of losing to the blue FD was still burned into his memory, the moments of him showing up the first time and drifting so close to him and the time when he passed him.  
Things Keisuke wished never had happened, but at least it was another FD that beaten him and not some GT-R.

"Hey Keisuke, what are you hanging around in the door for?" Ryosuke came barging down the stairs, a quick peak through the door and Ryosuke noticed what was going on.

"Hey Keisuke, don't leave the woman out in the cold, invite her in." Ryosuke said to Keisuke.

"Yes Aniki." Keisuke opened the door and Kyoko entered.

As soon as Kyoko had taken off her Jacket and hung it up, Ryosuke gestured her to the coach.

"Want anything to drink?" Ryosuke asked.

"A glass of water would be nice." Kyoko replied, Ryosuke waved at Keisuke to go and fetch the glass of water.

Keisuke was clearly annoyed but he still did it.

"The blue FD driver wanted me to tell you that your mistakes have finally caught up with you Keisuke." Kyoko said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Keisuke asked as he put the glass of water in front of Kyoko.

"They say that it was a blue FD that beat both you and Todou School. Do you know of any blue FD guys Keisuke?" Ryosuke asked.

"Only one that would give me a message like that and that is the only guy that has ever beaten me in a race, Sweeper!" Keisuke said annoyed.

"Ah that guy, the World Cup driver. If he is involved in these races I begin to wonder what they are up to. Certainly I would like to know more about the guys he races with, so far they have copied every race we have done up to now, crushing our times and opponents and a lot quicker than we did as well." Ryosuke said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Keisuke asked.

"I can only make these cards rhyme one way, which is that the Project S team is coming for us, even their name is a rip-off from ours for some reason. You better get ready for another tough battle Keisuke, the toughest you will ever get. It is ok if it is just Sweeper on that team; it is really bad if they have filled it with World Cup professionals, if they have, then we are in deep trouble if they really are targeting us."

"My mistakes have caught up to me? Did he hint at the phone call I had with him?" Keisuke asked Kyoko.

"Yes he mentioned that as well. I am sorry, but this is what I came to tell you. I will be leaving now." Kyoko finished drinking up the glass of water and headed for the exit.

Keisuke followed her while Ryosuke kept pondering.  
After Keisuke had sent her out the door, Keisuke went back to Ryosuke.

"Is it bad Aniki?" Keisuke asked.

"We need to know more, we need to find out where their next battle will be. And we need to head over there and get a look at who these guys really are." Ryosuke said.

"I'll check with some of the guys in the area, I will give you a call as soon as I know something." Keisuke said and grabbed his car keys.

"Ok Keisuke, I will call Fujiwara and inform him of what is going down." Ryosuke said and went for the phone.

Keisuke went out the door and started up his FD and drove off.

---

Authors notes: You may see the "..." after each chapter when selecting, that is because I have to shorten the title slightly to fit within the limit amount of characters. The title will be pasted on the beginning of those documents, so you can get the full title without me having to change everything.


	13. Chapter 13: Revenge over Keisuke,,,

**Chapter 13: Revenge over Keisuke unveiled.**

The expedition team had arrived at the next mountain pass to conquer, it was Friday night.  
However this time, Sweeper was already familiar with the pass, after all he had defeated Takahashi Keisuke on this course.  
As he got out of the bus he wasn't really up to the race for tonight.  
That was when he noticed the black Toyota Altezza and its driver.  
The driver came over to Sweeper and saw that he was under the weather.

"Hello there old pal" The Altezza driver said.

"Hello Ryo, I wasn't really prepared for it to go this way you know. I am sorry it turned out this way." Sweeper said.

"Don't worry about it, even if you guys beat us it will be a good thing if it can help getting Project D. But even so, we will give it all we got." Ryo replied.

"Thanks, but I still feel like I am betraying old comrades of mine." Sweeper said.

"Wipe that sadness off your face; don't let Akira see you like that. Or else he will have a field day with you." Ryo said and smiled.

"Whatever he says, I will just beat his pants off!" Carlos said as he came off the bus.

"We will talk later or battle each other, right now I got a few matters to attend to, if you would excuse me." Ryo said and left as Keiichi and Jane came off the bus.

"This is going to be a problem." Keiichi said.

"Definitely a problem Keiichi, well simulation wise anyways." Jane replied.

"What is the problem here?" Sweeper asked.

"We got no simulations for the uphill battle." Jane said.

"Correction, we got the simulations, but the ones we got are useless. Unless they have a clone of you that drives the exact same FD and uses the exact same techniques!" Keiichi said.

"How are you lining up the battles for tonight?" Sweeper asked.

"You are going downhill against that Garaiya. We ain't sure on the uphill just yet, since we do not know the opponent…" Jane was silenced by an Impreza driver that came walking over.

"I will be driving against your uphill ace." The driver said.

"Not that guy…" Sweeper said with an annoyed face.

"I will DEFINITELY not lose to some Gaijin." The guy said.

"That is Akira, the worst Gaijin hater I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. And to be honest, he annoys me." Sweeper said.

"You just got lucky the last time you raced here. However I will prove that neither of you got a chance against my 450 HP Subaru Impreza Version 3! I will definitely beat you all!" Akira shouted out and walked back towards his car.

"Well there you have it, his car and type. Just don't forget to add "Overconfident" to the simulations as well." Sweeper said.

"You bet. We are going with McClintock tonight for the uphill battle. After all his R34 is going to out response and out traction the poor Impreza." Jane said.

"That is a good strategy too; they probably expect us to bring the most powerful weaponry for the uphill as well which is Carlos' R34." Keiichi said.

Just then two cars came rolling into the parking lot; Sweeper quickly noticed which cars it was.  
It was 2 RX-7's, a FC and a FD, white FC and yellow FD.  
The drivers stepped out of their cars and approached the band that had gathered outside the bus.

"Hello there, I am the leader of Project D from Gunma. I hear you guys are the Project S team?" Ryosuke asked.

"Yes we are Project S." Keiichi replied.

"You guys sure have a nice setup here, but may I ask why you guys are following in our footsteps?" Ryosuke asked Keiichi.

"Short answer is that we are looking forward to challenging you guys." Keiichi said, just as Keiichi had said that Jane whispered in his left ear.

"Keiichi, that was a bad move, now they will see our setup and that isn't really advantageous is it?" Jane asked.

"Sounds interesting, I have been observing your progress so far, and I must say I am greatly impressed with the drivers you got here. Not to mention the quality of the machines you race." Ryosuke commented as he looked around and at the 4 cars that had been unloaded and were parked on a line.

"Did you come all of this way just to praise us like that?" Jane asked.

"No, I will get right to the point, how does it sound with a battle 3 weeks from now?" Ryosuke said while smiling.

"Sounds ok to me so far, hey Carlos and Sweeper, you guys have any extra plans that will draw any weeks?" Keiichi asked.

"We have a few plans, but those we take care of during weekdays, no weekends so it should be allright." Carlos replied.

Keisuke walked up towards Sweeper standing next to Carlos.

"So here we meet again, at the same course that I first met you." Keisuke said to Sweeper.

"Yeah, fate is weird sometimes, but fate can be even more twisted than that when it comes to mistakes catching up to you." Sweeper said.

"Oh that, I would like you to tell me what you mean by that, you have already beaten me." Keisuke said.

"I was planning to tell you in 4 weeks, but it is better that you get to know it right now. If you are much of a man you will accept a bet!" Sweeper started with a grin on his face.

Keisuke stood there thinking for a while, Ryosuke and Keiichi had stopped talking when they heard Sweeper mention betting and were listening.  
As Keisuke looked at the blue FD in the lot behind the bus and the 18 wheeler he reached his decision.

"Ok, it is a deal. What is the bet?" Keisuke asked.

"Simple! If you lose the battle you will have to take Kyoko as your girlfriend with all the costs that comes with the territory!" Sweeper said while smiling of revenge.

"WHAT?" Keisuke asked rather shocked.

"However, if you win the battle… Well…" Sweeper swallowed for a moment before he continued. "You will get a brand new FD to own and drive, my '98 Type RS with all the modifications and high tech installations. It will be a dream machine for you." Sweeper said.

"YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!" Carlos bursted out. "Your FD is legendary, in the hands of that annoying brat!" Carlos got angry.

"It is ok Carlos, so, is there enough man in Takahashi Keisuke to accept this little bet or do you really suck as everyone says about you?" Sweeper asked.

"YOU ARE ON! If it is on Akagi you better let your FD be in tip top shape, because I will most likely be taking it home." Keisuke said.

Keisuke and Ryosuke walked away from the Project S group, back in the group the rest flocked around Sweeper.

"What the hell are you thinking Sweeper? It is on his home course and you put your FD up for grabs if he wins! Aren't you afraid of losing it?" Jane asked.

"I have been thinking for a while and the FD I got isn't very well suited for the regular street driving, like getting in and out of town." Sweeper said.

"Rethink that again Sweeper, it is your racing machine, you cannot just lose it." Carlos said.

"I can do that Carlos, there is a few things I will tell you guys later…" Sweeper began saying.

"No way, you say it right here and right now!" McClintock said while grabbing Sweeper's right arm.

"You really want to know don't you? Well I will tell you what it is if you are so desperate to know it. I am planning on quitting racing, both World Cup, street and mountain pass racing. It is about time for me to retire." Sweeper said with some sorrow in his voice.

"RETIRE? Hell no, why the hell do you want to retire?" Carlos asked curiously

"Look in my history in the last few years of the World Cup and our private challenges Carlos. I have been on a long winning streak that has yet to end and I am tired. I have reached the top level of driving. Besides the battle on Akagi will be the final battle of them all so if I lose my FD it doesn't matter since I am retiring once this project is over." Sweeper replied to Carlos.

"Even so that FD is all that you have cared for, you cannot just let it go like that. Your relationship to that car is like it was your girlfriend for Christ's sake." McClintock said with some desperation.

"Put it like this, if Keisuke can win that battle that is coming his way, that means he is good enough to participate in the World Cup's higher classes and not the beginners league. But to participate he will need a machine that can handle the insane pressure and handle on demand. And that is my FD, it is better that it continues its life in what I made it for rather than some airhead of a ricer gets his hands on it and uses it for ricer street racing." Sweeper said with a determined voice.

"I guess nothing can change your mind, now can it?" Chang asked.

"Yes, you are correct. But since this is going to be our last few races together I will not hold back anything. When I am retired I want to look back upon this without any signs of regret."

"With my rival retiring from the World Cup there won't be much for me to do there either. I think I'll retire as well." Carlos said while throwing a quick look at his black R34 before he continued "But then again I cannot retire completely, I will still race on the streets of Brazil, I have come too far to just park my R34."

"Let us just get ready for upcoming race and we can take the other affairs afterwards. After all, I do not like this battle at all, but I have to do it anyways."

"It may not be up to you in the end though." Chang said and pointed up at the sky.

"Yeah, if it begins to rain, that will change all of it."

Sweeper knew that if it started to rain, it wouldn't be him that was going out in the wet, even though he could do it, there was someone that was better than him in that aspect if he got serious.  
And that was Chang or "Chinese Dragon" as they called him, him and his NSX were the perfect rain team, after all Chang was used to the rain after countless of practice hours.  
After all, when you drive a high power turbo MR car in the rain, you are bound to see a tail out situation or two.  
Chang who sure didn't drive slowly in the rain had encountered a lot of oversteer, and had then turned it into his greatest ally in the rain.  
He knew how to prevent them and how to make them work in his favour.

"Retirement or whatever, you guys still got practice to do, so get right on it." Keiichi shouted out.

The drivers turned around and got into their cars and sped off onto the course.  
Keiichi turned back to Jane.

"It is fortunate that it begins to rain, I don't think Sweeper is up for racing an old friend of him like this. After all he saved their glory against Project D; thanks to him their team only got a tie but no loss." Keiichi said.

"You are right, but that kind of attitude comes from what he does and what Ryo did for a living. Carlos, Chang or McClintock wouldn't feel bad in doing it like this, however they haven't seen the horrors of betrayal on the battlefield like Sweeper has. Having battlefield experience helps both positively and negatively on being a race driver." Jane replied.

"We sure cannot lose if Chang drives like he did in the previous race against the Cappuccino. Man that guy is a lot faster than he seems." Keiichi commented while throwing a look at the parking slot where Chang's NSX had been parked.


	14. Chapter 14: GT machine vs JGTC machine

It was the first battle night; up first was the downhill battle between the newcomer to the JDM scene, which was the Garaiya.  
However, it was pouring down from above and the tarmac was wet.  
Ryo arrived with his JGTC Garaiya and parked at the grid and got out of the car.

"An ASL Garaiya in JGTC version, where the hell did you get such a machine?" McClintock asked Ryo.

"JGTC cars that don't match new regulations are sold to at least gain some money from the development they have spent on it. However they aren't usually sold to members of the general public. I have a few stocks here and there and a few contacts so I managed to buy one using them." Ryo said with a smile.

"I see no license plates on this thing. Is it road legal?" Carlos asked.

"No… That's why I rarely use this machine other than on this pass, if the cops stopped me I would be in deep trouble. It doesn't match any road regulations, just look at the interior and you will get one of the reasons." Ryo replied.

"Normal people who wanted a Garaiya would settle with the road car version, a lot more comfort in that than the JGTC car." Sweeper commented.

"But those don't corner like this car!" Ryo replied sharply.

"Funny part about these Garaiya's is that they use a Nissan motor. SR20 to be specific, the normal road car uses the SR20DE, but the JGTC uses the SR20DET." Jane shot into the conversation.

"Well, let us get ready to race then." Chang said before he headed over to his NSX and drove it to the starting line.

Ryo got into his Garaiya and fired up the engine, the exhaust system was of a true racing type so the exhaust sound was very loud.  
This battle was going to be interesting, two cornering machines were going to go head to head.  
Garaiya being a JGTC machine which is a perfect cornering weapon on the other hand was the Honda NSX S-Zero, Japan's best cornering machine in factory configuration.  
The two cars were lined up side by side and were ready to go, Carlos did the countdown and on the GO the 2 cars launched onto the course in a spray of water.  
The NSX braked early for the upcoming corner compared to the Garaiya, allowing Ryo to snap the lead from Chang and try to get away in the lower speed corners prior to the dangerous hairpin corners that could easily fool drivers.  
Back on the top, Carlos talked to Sweeper.

"Man, it is raining again; driving in the rain isn't so bad. But being out of your car is where the real pain is, you get soaked for Christ's sake."

"Don't complain about the rain Carlos, it is needed for obvious reasons." Sweeper replied.

"WHATEVER! By the way Sweeper, what do you think of the upcoming battles that have been planned?" Carlos asked.

"Well, I know that there are 2 of them in the works, the next one after this is to head off to Ibaraki and battle with Purple Shadow. I am not looking forward to that one very much, what I am looking forward to will be the battle on Irohazaka against the Emperor!" Sweeper put a lot of force into his words when he said the Emperor part.

"Emperor? What's there to gain from those? I heard those are just a bunch of Lan EVO kids." Carlos replied.

"Sudou Kyoichi and that Kogashiwa Kai are pretty tough racers; you may find them a bit hard to take on." McClintock commented.

"What cars do they drive?" Carlos asked.

"Last thing I heard was that Kai had swapped to a MR2 GTS, but Kyoichi still drives his EVO 3 with that noisy anti lag system." Jane fired a comment from behind the computer a few meters away.

"An EVO 3 and a MR2 Twin Turbo that is hardly worth my time, I guess it could be more interesting on Irohazaka with my 1500 HP engine under the hood and the wide gearing. That would give me a challenge at least." Carlos said with a slight trace of disgust.

"You want to drive that tight course using 1st gear most of the hill climb followed by a few runs in 3rd gear on the straights? To be honest I would rather prefer my 4 rotor NA rather than my turbo for that course. Sure there are a few passes where more power is great, the high speed ones, but Irohazaka is not one of those passes. It is a one way pass so the road isn't exactly very wide compared to passes like this one. But still, I do not like that Kyoichi fellow." Sweeper replied.

"Then I say we beat him so badly that his pants fall off! After all, I guess I will teach him the difference between a born WRC car and a tuned World Cup machine!" Carlos said with a smile and threw a look over at his GT-R.

"He will have the home course advantage, just remember that Carlos. But then again, if he is to face you and your GT-R I am afraid he won't survive many of the uphill corners. When it comes to insane car control you and your R34 are an unbeatable team." Sweeper said.

"What kind of driver is this Sudou guy then? Want to try to get a picture of him." Carlos asked.

"Remember Todou School? He is a graduate from there; he likes to play the safest and surest way when it comes to races." McClintock replied to Carlos.

"Safest and surest way? HAH! That will be his defeat this time around; he will learn that when facing people like me you cannot rely on that kind of driving." Carlos said with a big grin as he imagined the race.

Back on the course, Ryo were braking for the upcoming hairpin corner, after all these sequential hairpins that were somewhat hidden in the gradient of the hill created a visual illusion of not being as sharp.Skid marks on the tarmac told the same story, however those marks were from those who had been fooled by the 3 corners, and the guardrails in the area also carried signs of impacts.  
The NSX charged in at an insane speed and at a different line than Ryo.  
At first Ryo was sure the NSX driver was over speeding into the corners until Ryo looked at how his own car was positioned in the corner.  
His speed was right but he had wasted a lot of turning space from the outside rail and by doing that, his entry speed was lower than the NSX.  
After these corners the high speed section was coming up, and there the high supercharged midship would have the advantage.

The NSX took the sharp outside line and begun its entry, compared to the Garaiya it was faster through the corners and quickly got up to its bumper.

"Damn, I missed the perfect entry line, I am in a pinch now, that NSX has more power than me, and that is what counts in the high speed section of this course." Ryo cursed as he manoeuvred out the exit of the 3rd corner and slammed the pedal to the floor.

It didn't take long until he heard a whine and the typical NSX engine sound blow past him.  
Less than a second later, Ryo was staring at Chang's taillights accelerating away.  
Even though he had a SR20 at 300 HP with a turbo he was still not able to catch the supercharged NSX.  
However, he still had the advantage if he could catch him in the upcoming corners at the end of the course, the 5 final low speed corners.  
The pass wasn't a very long one so most matches were settled rather quickly, even though Ryo had spent a lot of time setting up his Garaiya the problem with the high speed section was still there.  
Compared to the next generation mountain pass racers, power was what they put their bets on and on a pass like this they would have a field day at the middle of the course and nightmares at the beginning and end.

However for Chang it was hardly a nightmare, his nightmare was partly over; the first step to ending it was chasing down Sinjo on a mountain pass to save a life.  
The 2nd time it improved was when the Project S crew came along; the sad part was that once they had raced Project S, they were being dissolved.  
But for every battle he could get, it was going to help him in getting over his fear of mountain passes.  
His true motivation was the fun he felt of controlling the car through corners and catching the opponent.

Chang steered through the high speed corners with ease and charged into the first low speed corner that marked the beginning of the end.  
He kept on braking and turning in and starting a drift, he knew that one mistake would make him lose to the downforce rigged Garaiya that were chasing him.  
Both machines were running on the 300 millimetre racing tires that were common in the racing world, but too expensive for most mountain pass racers to use.  
Only problem with using this type of tires was the warm up before the race, but the Project S had found a solution to warming the tires up if the race was suspected to be extra difficult.  
Prior to the race they used 2 cars to heat up both the front and rear tire set, swapping on the front tires was the most difficult part as the tires had a very hot surface and it is easy to injure yourself by touching it.  
The process of warming up the tires was done in drag racing style, doing a really heated burnout.  
This was only done for the hard rubber compound tires since they need a longer time to heat up to operating temperature.  
Also, the tires were put on the car right before the race was started to make sure they were as warm as possible.  
However since it was raining they had cancelled doing the burnout as getting the ground dry enough to do it wasn't possible, so they had gone with a softer compound instead of hard compound that Carlos and Sweeper preferred.  
But that was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to tires; they shouldn't run too hot either, if they get too hot they will lose their grip.  
So it was all about maintaining a perfect temperature on the tires during a race.

Chang knew that the best way of defeating the Garaiya wasn't by charging into the corners as fast as he could, even in the rain the Garaiya that had a heavier total weight than the NSX would still win on corner entry.  
The best way for Chang to win was actually to start a drift to change direction quickly and drop the speed, then pile on the power as early as possible since that was the strong point of the NSX compared to the Garaiya.  
Get on the power and pick up as much speed as possible and then use the same procedure for the next corner.

Chang cleared two corners and looked in the rear view mirror, the Garaiya was catching up, as Chang dived into the 3rd corner with his braking drift, the Garaiya were exiting the 2nd corner.  
It was all about balancing out the car with the counter steering and try to keep straight the moment the exit was visible, from there it was all relying on the engine power.  
Driving grip on this wet road would only give trouble and tons of understeer which again would be problematic.  
"Make the car slide on your own terms" was the tactic most pro racers would chose under these conditions.  
Instead of waiting for the car to lose traction and either under or oversteer, throw it into a controlled oversteer instead.  
The Garaiya was quick through the corners and at the entry to the 4th corner it was on Chang's tail.  
The gap was shortened drastically for a moment until Chang stepped on the gas on the exit; it was quickly widened thanks to Chang's supercharger and the engine crossing into VTEC.  
As the 5th corner closed in the Garaiya braked late and came up side by side with Chang.  
Chang were already drifting towards the outside due a bit higher entry speed than what he would normally use.  
So the Garaiya had the inside lane, it got a few meters ahead before the final acceleration to the finish line was up.  
Ryo knew this was a losing battle, only way he could have won was if Chang had entered a few KPH faster into the last corner, making him slam into the rock wall on the outside of the corner.

"How ironic, in my last race against Project D I managed to hold off the AE86 due to superior power, this time I get beaten in the power department! But I win in the handling department, too bad having good handling doesn't help on straights." Ryo thought as he saw the red NSX Type S-Zero blew past and towards the finish line.

On the top of the hill the radio report ticked in and as the report finished, Sweeper turned towards Jane.

"It is practically over by now; the next battle won't even be a challenge at all." Sweeper said.

"McClintock headed down there 5 minutes ago; I guess it should be starting soon. But you really have no belief in this Akira guy eh Sweeper?" Jane asked.

"All talk and no go. Well to be honest his mouth is too big, I don't know how Ryo ran into such a guy, but he has a lot of respect for Ryo. That I can tell, but being fast? GIVE ME A BREAK!" Sweeper shouted out.

"How do you know that he is slow Sweeper?" Carlos asked.

"He drove the car when they made the video tape of the course for me when I raced for them. And he was really pushing hard, he was trying to impress me with everything he got, but man how slow he was." Sweeper said.

Jane and Carlos just began laughing of the entire thing.

"His Impreza will not last in the high speed section against the R34; if McClintock can make it there the match will be effectively over, even with 450 HP on the Impreza, it is still not going to be able to hang onto the R34 GT-R. If it was a GT-Turbo then I guess he would have a chance, but this is a GT-R, and traction wise it is no match for the Impreza, and on straights the ATTESA ET-S will really shine." Jane said.


	15. Chapter 15: Just pile on the power!

The old Impreza WRX STi lined up next to the R34 GT-R, permanent 4WD vs. part time 4WD of the Skyline.  
Akira felt confident and smiled as he revved his 4 cylinder 2.0 litre boxer engine.  
McClintock responded by revving the RB26DETT, the larger 6 cylinder engine gave off its distinct Skyline sound.  
Ryo did the start, and the 2 cars launched off, with McClintock wheel spinning the 4 wheels when leaving the starting grid compared to Akira who had a perfect launch.

"Damn! Too much revs upon launch, good thing I upgraded the driveline for more strength!" McClintock mumbled to himself as he begun chasing down the Impreza.

The two cars dived into the corners with the Impreza leading through the 5 low speed corners.  
On the exit the Impreza was superior due to closer gearing than the GT-R and lighter body giving it faster acceleration.  
But McClintock had far from given up, the GT-R's advantage on exit was having the power available early compared to the Impreza.  
The Nitrous system actually made up for some of the weaknesses that the GT-R had on the corner exits.

On the top Carlos and Sweeper were waiting for the results.

"The main point to this battle is really simple isn't it? Just use your power…" Carlos said and stopped mid sentence as he remembered the battle with Sweeper.

"Yeah, a bit similar to what you used to do before you and me raced in Brazil?" Sweeper asked.

"Right on the dot there Sweeper, but then again, I never expected to face a FD that was packed with so much power. I have raced a lot of RX-7 guys and ever since I battled the first FC in my 800HP R32 GT-R I clearly noticed that they were underpowered machines that really had no chance to keep up me. The same with the FD's, but then your blue '98 Type RS came along and changed all of that…" Carlos stopped for a while before he continued, "On the straights where I had left countless of FC's and FD's you still kept up, heck, you even passed me and disappeared!" Carlos said.

"RX-7's have since the first SA22C been underpowered lightweight machines compared to their rivals, the Toyota Supra and Nissan Skyline. Nevertheless our speciality was cornering, however I couldn't settle with just winning on cornering, I feel cornered if I cannot keep up on straights. That is why I put that 4 rotor turbo into the racing machine, but your driving clearly changed after I passed your R34. In the later races we had you have been paying more attention to corner work and not just engine power." Sweeper tried to comfort Carlos.

"Yeah, if I was going to beat your Type RS I would need to be able to challenge you in corners as well as straights. That's why I had the engine block totally revamped and a totally suspension tune as well as a lot of work on weight reduction. My R34 GT-R was reborn as a totally different car, it turned from a sloppy heavy fat ass muscle racer to a corner crunching power devil. And it was a pain to tame, but when I finally got the hang of the car it was a blast to drive." Carlos said.

"This time the Impreza will get the same feeling that you had on the straight when I passed you. But then again I cannot say I feel sorry for that Akira guy." Sweeper laughed.

"This is going to be the shortest race I have ever seen." Carlos said to Sweeper as he looked towards Keiichi holding the radio.

The Impreza blasted out of the 5th low speed corner and stepped hard on the gas pedal.  
Akira usually wished that the straightaway was long since all of his opponents lacked power to keep up with him there, but this time it was different, he was the underpowered opponent in this battle and he was the one that wished the straight was short.  
McClintock braked early compared to earlier corner entries, and piled on the power early letting the ATTESA ET-S keep it in line on the corner exit.  
The heavy nitrous powered GT-R quickly closed the gap and blew past the Impreza at an amazing speed.  
Akira realized he had already lost the battle as the GT-R disappeared through the high speed corner at a great speed and onto the final part of the straight.  
Just like Sakai, all he got to see of the GT-R was the 4 round taillights disappear into the night.

At the top the radio message ticked in and Keiichi was relieved, compared to earlier battles he wasn't as tense as usual, probably because this opponent was slower than the others they had been facing and it was impossible to lose the battle.  
Carlos turned towards Sweeper.

"The power of the GT-R!" Carlos said and smiled.

"Yeah right… Where was that power when you raced me in Brazil?" Sweeper laughed at Carlos.

Carlos knew that this was a joke, a joke those two had been pulling for a long time.  
Both of them knew the strengths of each others cars, Sweeper knew the R34 since he had owned one.  
Carlos knew the FD since he had battled it and seen it drive at the limit.  
Project S quickly begun packing up the equipment and loading up the cars as Ryo got up to the top.  
Sweeper approached Ryo as he got out of his GT300 Garaiya.

"Even though we lost Sweeper I feel happy. Just go and get those Project D guys and give them a warm welcome from us." Ryo smiled as he said it.

"You didn't lose to Project D back then; it was a tie actually, thanks to me beating their FD on the uphill." Sweeper said.

"Well we didn't win either, so you will still have to give them a hello from us." Ryo quickly replied.

"You already know we will… But that AE86 worries me, he has a lot of hidden speed to draw from." Sweeper said as a short hint to Ryo.

"A little hint may be to chase and then plan your attack. And for you that will work splendidly. Unlike the other opponents he has faced, you are good at chasing, if you chase him he will have no chance of getting away." Ryo replied.

"Still, I doubt that will be enough to beat him, but I will not back down without trying." Sweeper said.

"I will be there to watch, but right now I am starving. I am going to head home and get me something to eat, so I will catch you later." Ryo got into the Garaiya and drove off.

Sweeper watched the loud Garaiya disappear before he got onto the bus with the rest of the team and headed back to Tokyo.


	16. Chapter 16: A big surprise

During the week that had past nothing special had happened, other than Sweeper and Carlos heading out to assist Sagara in the battle against The Conquerors where they both had some real fun and fear while driving.  
Now the weekend had arrived and it was time to head off to Ibaraki for another Project D take down.  
It was against Purple Shadow, the fastest on Ibaraki, with the God Foot and God Hand.

The trucks arrived at the bottom ready for the battle and they begun unloading the equipment.  
Unlike other battles, the Purple Shadow crew members arrived at the table that was put up for Jane and Keiichi.

"You are Project S right?" Joushima Toshia asked.

"Yes, we are Project S; I assume you are from Purple Shadow?" Jane asked.

"Yes, I am Joushima Toshia and this man here is Hoshino Kouzou. If you don't mind me asking, are you guys from that World Cup thing for Street racers?" Joushima asked.

"Yes we are, though we aren't much known. Just those that are into the world of street racing know about it, how do you know about it?" Keiichi asked.

"We used to be World Cup drivers back then, I was actively participating until 1993 with R32, when something happened and it was discontinued." Hoshino said.

"Wait a minute; you guys are those Hoshino Kouzou and Joushima Toshia? You guys were legends back then, your driving was already top class level, and you won every single race that you participated in." Keiichi looked surprised.

"Yeah, those were the days, too bad it was discontinued, so these 4 guys are the new breed of the World Cup drivers?" Joushima asked.

"Yes, these are the current leaders and winners of the World Cup, best drivers you can get for the street." Jane replied.

"This is going to be a great battle, it is great to see the younger generations speed, I am greatly looking forward to this race, you will off course have the course for practice so just get started anytime you want." Joushima said.

"Thank you guys, we are also eagerly looking forward to this battle ourselves. We have a request for you, if you will accept it." Keiichi said.

"What is your request?" Joushima asked.

"We want to have the uphill battle first, if that is possible for you." Keiichi asked.

"No problem at all, I will get ready for that one." Hoshino said with a smile.

"Let's go Hoshino, let's leave these guys to their practice." Joushima said to Hoshino before they left in their cars.

Sweeper and Carlos turned towards Keiichi after watching the S2000 and the R34 GT-R leave.

"Who are those guys?" Sweeper asked.

"Ex World Cup drivers, there have been a few problems in the world cup through the years. First one was back in the late 70s after 20 years of operation, 2nd failure happened in 1993 when there was a major split in the tuner market regarding funding, the World Cup was disbanded until 2000 and that's when you guys showed up. These two have been in the World Cup since the 80s and have been the greatest racers at that time, and I think that even for you, these guys are on your level." Keiichi said.

"They are on our level? How did they lose to Project D then?" Carlos asked.

"I suspect they didn't bring out all of their strength, these guys are very polite and nice people, they like to have a good thrill and even if it costs them the victory they don't want to feel unfair. But against you I expect it to be an all out battle of the highest calibre ever." Keiichi said.

"What strategy are we going with for today's race?" Sweeper asked.

"I don't know honestly, this course is giving me headaches in the simulations and their cars are a complete mystery. And the driver profile is full of holes, but if we go by their 80s profile on driving techniques this is not going to be easy." Jane clearly showed signs of frustrations.

"I don't like to hear that Jane… It is bad news." Keiichi got worried again.

"I say we send all four of you onto the course and see who gets the best results. That is the only thing I can say with certainty for now." Jane said before she continued to tap on the laptop.

"You know what this means Sweeper? I bet 10 AMERICAN Dollars that I will put down a much better time than you can, on both uphill and downhill!" Carlos dug a 10 dollar bill from his pocket and slammed it onto the table.

"I am not much of a gambler, but I say that on the downhill I will have the advantage. So I put 10 dollars against it." Sweeper slammed another 10 dollar bill onto the table and told Keiichi to hold onto them.

Chang and McClintock smiled of Sweeper and Carlos' rivalry before heading over to their cars.  
The 4 drivers got in and started their engines before heading onto the course; this was going to be a long night of concentration.  
Carlos and Sweeper when going out for a challenge on each other they attracted each other like magnets.  
No matter how fast the leader was going, the chaser was always keeping up, weather it was Carlos that was leading or Sweeper.  
When they drove like that, not even Chang or McClintock stood a chance of keeping up through corners; they were the best of friends, and the best of rivals.  
And there was no wonder those two had first and second place in the World Cup when you saw their driving; they were totally different from Keisuke and Takumi when it came to driving.

After doing 3 laps the 4 drivers arrived at the top for further suspension tuning, fuel and a quick rest.  
Carlos jumped out of his R34 as he arrived and walked over towards Jane.

"Has my order arrived yet?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, it was shipped from Australia a few weeks ago, it is in the trailer." Jane replied.

Sweeper came over looking puzzled to what Carlos was speaking of.

"What are you talking about Carlos? What kind of order?" Sweeper asked.

"I and Jane put an order with Hollinger in Australia for a new custom made gearbox for my GT-R. The models they normally have doesn't have ratios that matches my Mine's engine. It is one of those sequential clutch free boxes, nothing like that custom made 6 speed modelled on the Greddy 6 speed that you have in your FD." Carlos said.

"Hollinger, the gearbox choice of serious GT-R racers, the strongest boxes for GT-R's is manufactured in Australia, I bet you are a good customer, I remember when you needed those new boxes after scrapping off a lot of teeth in the 3rd gear."

"I could have fitted one of their usual models but then the power band match up would be horrible!" Carlos replied.

"Let me hazard a guess here Carlos, you want it fitted for the next battle?" Jane asked.

"Better get started right away, if I am to race that God Foot on the uphill it will be difficult and I would like the aid that the Hollinger can give me." Carlos replied to Jane.

"Ok." Jane turned towards the mechanics and started shouting out orders.

Carlos on the other hand quickly jumped into the trailer and got into a boiler suit before jumping back out to join the mechanics preparing the gearbox change.  
Jane stopped Carlos as he was half way to his car.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing?" Jane said sharply.

"It is my GT-R! And I will not let them mess around with the gearbox without me checking that everything is correct…" Carlos was interrupted by Sweeper.

"Forget stopping him Jane, if you want Carlos to perform at his best you better let him assist them with the change, after all, god knows what he has done of modifications on that GT-R, an untrained eye might break something on it for all that I know." Sweeper said.

Jane moved out of Carlos' way and saw him run towards the R34 and dive under it.  
Sweeper laughed of Carlos' enthusiasm, but he understood his feelings for the car, after all, he was a GT-R lover.  
And Sweeper knew that from countless of discussions with him over the GT-R, and especially RX-7 vs. GT-R discussions, that nearly always ended with Sweeper saying: "Remember Brazil Carlos?"

"I am heading out again, seems like they are done with fuelling up and changing the settings, I think I will need some harder tires for my next run, I need to practice some endurance driving on this course." Sweeper said before getting in his RX-7 and drove off onto the course.

Jane watched the blue rotary car disappear with a loud roar, nearly sounding like a F1 car, a typical sound from homemade 4 rotors.  
As she turned towards Chang and McClintock they were still waiting for the settings to be completed, apparently they were discussing to pass time, and the subject for discussion was what was better of 4WD and MR.  
Over at the black GT-R cursing in Spanish could be heard as Carlos didn't like how some of the mechanics treated his car, but she knew it wasn't serious, just something that is typical for people that love their cars as much as Carlos loved his GT-R.

This was going to be a long night, Carlos would have completed the swap in 2-3 hours tops as there were multiple mechanics working and with proper tools.  
Jane turned back to the computer simulation that was filled with holes, not even Keiichi was of much help with it either, and he had trouble coming up with a good strategy.


	17. Chapter 17: Battle of the R

Carlos had spent the rest of the practice night getting used to the Hollinger sequential gearbox.  
The advantage with a sequential was that you didn't need to use the clutch other than when launching the car.  
And as the rest of the team members awoke it was time to get ready for the toughest battle as of yet, the battle against God Foot and God Hand.  
The 2 GT-R's lined up with Hoshino leading on Carlos and Carlos chasing.  
Hoshino approached Carlos and looked over his R34 and noticed that it was a newer model as it clearly had traces of being a Vspec.  
As Hoshino rounded the car he saw the Vspec 2 badge located below the rear right brake light.

"You are driving a Vspec 2 right?" Hoshino asked.

"Yeah, with a Mine's RB26DETT package, it feels really good on the mountain passes." Carlos replied.

"What's up with the body on this car? It doesn't feel like the usual metal and plastic build that is used on the GT-R from factory." Hoshino rubbed his hand carefully along the front right fender.

"I have done carbon fibre modifications to it, to reduce the weight of the car, and also to increase the power to weight ratio of the car." Carlos said, unlike other racers he didn't mind letting others know the specs of his car.

"Carbon fibre… This is going to be an interesting battle." Hoshino said as he headed back to his GT-R.

Carlos got into his R34 and started up the car and gave it a few quick revs before Hoshino followed.  
Jane did the countdown and the two cars launched, showing clearly that 4WD was better than 2WD on launch.  
It was finally started, the most interesting battle of them all, and Sweeper quickly noticed two familiar faces with radios.  
It was Takahashi Ryosuke and Takahashi Keisuke, eagerly listening to the reports of the events during the battle.

On the uphill Hoshino was taking it easy with the black GT-R following closely behind, Carlos were still driving grip like he usually did when he wasn't stressed and driving at his limit.  
Hoshino looked in the rear view and observed the black car taking the same line with ease.

"Good, the next generation can at least keep up. But then again, he is driving a modified GT-R so I would expect that much from him. But this race has just started; this battle is going to be really interesting!" Hoshino was talking to himself to maintain a certain level of concentration and to not forget braking.

Carlos on the other hand was keeping quiet while driving, but he was the same type as Sweeper, if he saw a chance to attack he would take it.  
Carlos grabbed the shifter, let of the gas and instantly pulled the handle backwards once before stepping on the gas again.  
The shift up action was quick and on target, the Hollinger was of great aid in this battle.  
Hoshino was shouting DORIYAA as he dived into a corner, but Carlos kept suit with his GT-R and clearly showed Hoshino that in a comparison match, Carlos would have more power and a lot more response than he ever could mount.

"I cannot outclass him, only thing I am superior to him on is power. I can close the distance on corner exit but we are even on corner entry. But even with the near 600 HP that the Mine's puts out, I can barely touch his tail before he begins to pull away from me!" Carlos brain thought as he was chasing.

At Sweeper's location, McClintock and Chang had gathered around him, after all it was Sweeper who knew the most when it came to Carlos.  
He knew all of his bad habits when racing as well as his strengths; however, it was a mutual feeling amongst the two.  
Carlos knew Sweeper equally well, and in battles that were clearly shown as it was often a dead heat.

"If there is one weakness Carlos has, it is that he isn't a god with the accelerator like Hoshino Kouzou is. That is one of the reasons Hoshino can get out of corners faster than Carlos. But there is one aspect that apparently helps Carlos now, and that is his tire grip management skill, Carlos can push the tires just as he wants them, just like I can do. After all, that is a skill he had to copy from me to be able to keep up." Sweeper said as he looked at the guardrail on the other side of the road.

"So he has copied that from you eh? Did you copy anything from him?" Chang asked.

"Yes, his recklessness to take chances, any chance we get, no matter how narrow it is we will both take them. However, we only take chances that we clearly see that we can win on, not those stupid ones that will send you out of the race in the form of a crash or something similar." Sweeper smiled at Chang.

"Unlike that God Foot, Carlos is more likely to try something crazy? Is that going to be his best bet during this race?" McClintock asked.

"That is one of the things he can win on; he also has power on his side for this battle. The engine he uses is the same that you find in the Mine's R34 GT-R, and that GT-R can beat the HKS BNR34 Driving Performer which is a 900 HP GT-R on straights and corners with ease. And that is with just 600 HP, I am tempted to say it is a mountain pass super performer. It picks up speed quickly and accelerates damned fast and it also out corners regular GT-R's." Sweeper explained.

"But Carlos isn't driving the Mine's R34 GT-R, hasn't he just swapped in the Mine's engine into his own GT-R?" McClintock asked.

"Yes, I think he has just retuned the suspension he uses for the 1500 HP RB26 that he uses for the highway. The monster machine as I like to call it, though he is crazy enough to drift that kind of machine." Sweeper said.

"So how does his car handle?" Chang asked.

"Compared to a regular GT-R, it is damned good actually. But it has a few flaws here and there as the suspension is mainly a mock-up of mixed parts, and it still carries some settings for a 1500 HP engine, so it is not in its best condition, there is still a lot of room for improvement on it. But I am sure Carlos can control that car with ease, when you can slide a 1500 HP R34 around tight corners without any fear, well I got to two things to say to that. One is that you are damned good, the other is that you lack a lot of nuts up in your head." Sweeper was saying with a smile.

"Well, it is not just Carlos that lacks a lot of nuts in the top floor… You will fit nicely into that club as well." McClintock said jokingly.

"Enough of that already, where do you think Carlos will make his move?" Chang asked.

"Carlos will most likely begin to push him on the downhill; after all, he is a lot lighter and carries a lot of power. Though power isn't first priority on the downhill, first priority is techniques, then tire grip and finally power. Having the power advantage is not a disadvantage for Carlos in this type of situation. But he has to pass Hoshino and that may be a problem, Carlos is a crazy kind of guy so I am sure we will get to see him go all out somewhere." Sweeper said.

"All out?" McClintock asked.

"Carlos true art form in GT-R driving, sure Hoshino Kouzou has that long drift on Tsukuba to brag of, but Carlos specializes in drift control on his GT-R, contrary to popular belief, the ATTESA ET-S doesn't try to stop your drift, it assists you in maintaining it if you like. However, with the new R34 GT-R Z tune a new ATTESA was introduced, it creates a feeling of strong understeer on corner exit to maintain stability. Suffice to say, Carlos doesn't agree to that kind of driving where you get forced stability. He likes to have some slight oversteer available so he actually modified his ATTESA to perform with oversteer in most situations; I know it took him a few nights and a lot of fuel to get it right. But when watching his speed through corners afterwards, I was greatly impressed with how his R34 performed." Sweeper said.

"Oversteer related? But doesn't that make him slower and the car harder to control?" Chang asked.

"For normal people that don't drive the GT-R as much as he does, it would be horrible. It is one of the reasons I hate driving his GT-R, but if you wonder how Carlos can control it, the answer is simple. When he first begun with high speed driving, he often had too much power and speed and not enough downforce, which means the car is very unstable at high speeds.  
We would normally get a bodykit or a wing to get it to stick but Carlos was stubborn and insisted on controlling it instead.  
Pulling his GT-R up to 350 KPH and more with the stock rear wing on minimal downforce is something we would call insane, but he manages to keep that thing under control, how he does that, I have no idea. But he kept saying that he didn't want a rear wing that added weight and a lot of drag. I said it earlier and I will say it again, he is nuts!" Sweeper got a serious look in his face.

"He even dropped the downforce in high speed cornering?" McClintock asked with a shocked look on his face.

"Hell yeah, I know I am still running the stock wing on my Type RS but I do not keep at minimal setting. I was looking for a new bodykit for it though, doesn't matter now that I am soon going to retire from racing." Sweeper said as he looked at his RX-7.

The two GT-Rs arrived at the top of the hill and Hoshino dived in with a DORIYAA, unlike the battle with Keisuke, Carlos was close by and did a twin drift with Hoshino on the turn around, sliding closely in behind Hoshino and the two accelerated for the downhill.  
This was where the battle would get interesting, Carlos carbon GT-R vs. Hoshino's heavy weight Vspec 2 Nür.  
Hoshino clearly saw that the driver wasn't some low skilled GT-R fan, Carlos wouldn't have any issues keeping up, and on the downhill it would be difficult to pull away from the black Vspec 2.

"This is going to be tough; this battle is going to be more exciting than the one against that boy from Gunma. Well, just bring it on!" Hoshino quickly shouted out his usual DORIYAA and dived into the corner with Carlos closely following.

"He is good that's for sure… But this battle isn't over yet, I am going to catch you and pass you!" Carlos thought as he stepped hard on the power at the corner exit using the response to catch up on the short straights.

The reports ticked in to Jane and Keiichi, they quickly went through the data from match Purple Shadow had against Project D and both Jane and Keiichi were shocked.

"Hoshino's pace is a lot higher than when he raced Takahashi Keisuke…" Keiichi started as he watched the simulation.

"He is putting a lot more load on the tires than he did earlier, his tires will already start to lose their grip on the downhill." Jane was shocked.

"Carlos is really pressuring Hoshino isn't he? That Mine's is a great engine that would leave Hoshino cornered unless he took his tires to their full potential. I don't know if Carlos is playing this strategy on sheer purpose or if it is instinct." Keiichi said while looking at the simulation.

"If Carlos has started playing strategies then that is something new I have never seen him do before. He usually charges in with no plan at hand and is helped out by power and skills." Sweeper said.

"But still I got to admire Hoshino, pushing this hard with a heavyweight GT-R. In the battle against Keisuke he had the traction advantage, but now he is greatly at disadvantage car wise. I suspect he has some skills that he will use against Carlos, but they better be careful of how hard they decide to push." Jane said.

"I can tell you one thing though, Carlos doesn't know what giving up is, he will most likely keep on pushing until the end, it doesn't matter if it is dangerous or not he will do it. I can tell because I have had him tailing me." Sweeper said.

Jane had been correct around Hoshino's tires, the pace was high and now they had begun to lose grip.  
Hoshino realized he had to do the same trick that he used against Keisuke if he was to hold off the lighter and more powerful GT-R.  
On the brakes and out with the rear end to drift and control the push understeer.  
As Carlos saw Hoshino start drifting he was surprised by the speed he was capable of holding with his slide action.

"No wonder they call this guy God Foot, unlike me he can control a stock ATTESA ET-S tuned for understeer using accelerator technique. I am not that good at accelerator control, I turned to tuning instead." Carlos thought before he dived into the corner and stepped on the gas, but it was going to be tough to pass the GT-R as Hoshino blocked the road upon entry.

At Sweeper's location the current status of the race ticked in over the radios.

"As I thought, he has begun drifting to control the push understeer. A smart technique that, and on this kind of a road it has a few advantages, some of the corners it will help to be able to change direction quickly rather than putting down power." Jane said.

"Not to mention the stress Carlos must be feeling, drifting does add a whole new level to battling compared to grip driving. Following the line is more difficult, matching entry speed as well compared to grip driving." Keiichi commented to Jane.

"No reason to worry, at times like this is where Carlos usually shines, I guess we should just hang back and watch this race. There isn't much we can do anyways, it is Carlos' battle." Sweeper replied.

And Sweeper was correct, Carlos brought out his trump card and begun drifting his carbon fibre R34 GT-R Vspec 2.  
After all, Carlos driving style was drifting, and it was a style that he had spent a lot of time working on.  
When he first had gotten his R32 he didn't like how hard it was to drift, so all in all he ended up reprogramming the ATTESA computer to be easier to tail slide.  
Later through his days he began to make it into more serious programming of the ATTESA to achieve the perfect tune for his car and not just pure fun.  
In the end, he transferred a lot of his knowledge from the R32 to his R34 and created the ultimate GT-R.  
That Carlos began drifting shocked Hoshino, especially since it was a GT-R.

"You really know how to drive a GT-R that's for sure. But then again since you could stay with me on the uphill I knew you had the skill to keep up. But for how long can your GT-R keep the pace?" Hoshino said while drifting through a corner.

Back at Sweeper's position McClintock had a question.

"Hey Sweeper, I heard a rumour around Carlos…" McClintock paused as Sweeper interrupted.

"There are a lot of rumours around Carlos, most of them are NOT true however, and it really depends on which rumour you have heard." Sweeper replied.

"Is it true that he carries the nickname God Skyline, as in the God of driving Skyline GT-R's?" McClintock asked.

"Yeah it is true; I could even swear he knew the car better than Nissan ever would. If you ever need help with your GT-R you should ask him, he knows where to look for any problem it may suffer from and how to make it run perfect in terms of cornering and engine tune." Sweeper replied.

"Just as true as Sweeper here is called God Rotary by the other racers…" Chang shot in.

"God Rotary? Where the hell did that come from?" Sweeper asked looking puzzled.

"Aw come on, don't tell me you haven't heard the gossip around you? A lot of people have seen you drive a lot of rotary cars, SA22's, FB's, FC's, FD's as well as numerous older rotaries like the Mazda 110S. You handled them perfectly and without a flaw in the driving style, your braking was on the dot and not to mention how easy you slided them through the corners." Chang said.

"The Mazda 110S was just a light test ride I never floored that thing so you will have to take that out of the equation. Heh, so they call me the God Rotary, I didn't know that." Sweeper was slightly amused.

"And God Rain we all know who that is, now don't we?" McClintock asked as he looked at Chang.

"Man, I am not that fast in the rain… You guys are over exaggerating, sure I have practiced a lot of driving in the rain but I have never been extremely fast in it." Chang replied.

"Just forget discussing with that guy around that subject, it is hopeless." Sweeper said to McClintock with a smile.

"Heads up guys, they should be entering the long straight to the final corners now… The straight where Keisuke made his move, Carlos may make his move here." Jane shouted out.

"Well it is all ok but asking me it would be strategically better to wait out this round and take out Hoshino on the next round when he has pretty badly worn down tires." Keiichi said.

"That may be so, but that straight presents an opportunity for Carlos and he will not let it slide, I can bet my car on that!" Sweeper said.

"That is a bet you cannot lose, how will your bet with Takahashi Keisuke go then?" McClintock said jokingly at Sweeper.

Hoshino had a better exit onto the straight than Carlos and started pulling away slightly at the corner exit.

"The straightaway where Keisuke made his move, ok… Time to settle this once and for all!" Carlos thought and slammed on the gas pedal and begun shifting up as the response monster showed its muscles.

"You are really packing engine power eh? Even though it is a less important factor on the downhill it still plays a role! But if that is your best acceleration you still won't make it past me in time to take the lead before the corner." Hoshino said and lined up for the inside lane.

Carlos spotted Hoshino's move and grinned.

"Repeat performance eh? Ok if that is the way you want to play it I will, but with a few new tricks!" The two cars went side by side into the corner and begun a braking contest.  
Carlos was lighter and used that to brake slightly later than Hoshino and with that move managing to drift his tail out of Hoshino's way.  
The 2 GT-R's went into a twin drift in the corner fighting for the exit.

"When drifting high power 4WD cars there are one force that can sometimes be used to your advantage…" Carlos thought and wedged his GT-R slightly in front of Hoshino's R34.

"That is the infamous 4WD Crabwalk!" Carlos increased the slide angle and gave full counter steer as he piled on the power, making the R34 lie dead across the road while accelerating sideways.

"The crabwalk is a very unpredictable force, and most people who see it, face it in an accidental drift situation. But with practice you can actually make it happen and predict where it will end." Carlos saw the exit of the hairpin and the R34 quickly gripped the road launching itself out of the corner with Hoshino in close pursuit.

"That Mexican guy sure is impressive, to pass with a crabwalk like that takes skill and not to mention car control. Yet he pulled it off so easily…" Hoshino said as he closely followed the R34.

At the finish line Sweeper reacted to the tire squalling and blow off valve sounds heard in the distance.

"They are here!" Chang said as he saw the corner being lit up by headlights.

"Which R34 will be in front?" McClintock asked sitting on the hood of his R34.

Around the corner came the black R34 GT-R roaring with the Vspec 2 Nür closely following but without any chance to overtake.  
Carlos braked after passing the finish line and pulled up to the rest of the team.

"You did it Carlos; you beat God Foot on the downhill." Sweeper said as Carlos got out of the car.

"Yeah, I didn't expect to pass him like that, the speed I gained on the straight and the 4WD crabwalk… Seems like my drifting practices did pay off in the end." Carlos replied.

Hoshino approached Carlos.

"That was an awesome move you did there, I know you cannot really do that properly unless you know the car you are driving fairly well." Hoshino said.

"Well I have been practicing a lot with my R34 GT-R on various surfaces and speeds…" Sweeper interrupted Carlos.

"Like some people call you God Foot, the guys in the World Cup races have been calling Carlos for God Skyline as he knows a lot about Skyline GT-R's. He is an expert on the handling and power aspect of the car." Sweeper said.

"But there is one thing I noticed, you didn't seem to be able to catch me using accelerator skills on the uphill, but nevertheless you still kept up overall. But then after you passed me I noticed how your car was running from behind and it seemed to be running very different from other R34's I have seen." Hoshino said.

"Well even though we both have the same ATTESA ET-S Pro system with the electronic rear differential I found a different way to drift the car than what you have done. I have reprogrammed the ATTESA computer to aid me in drift control, so I do not have to worry about delicate accelerator control."

"So that's what you have done… Most people use a controller to control the torque split manually, but I have never seen anyone go that close in on programming the ATTESA computer, well those that does mainly does convert it to permanent AWD using a controller and not the path you have walked." Hoshino said.

"So you lost Kou-chan? Well it is downhill now isn't it? Who is the driver from Project S?" Joushima asked.

"That will be me and my 1998 Type RS FD." Sweeper replied pointing at his blue FD.

"A series 8 FD, I heard your exhaust sound earlier, what kind of modifications have you done to it?" Joushima asked Sweeper.

"I have put in a 4 rotor in it, NA as you obviously noticed on the exhaust sound." Sweeper replied.

"Well let us race then…" Joushima said as he went into his S2000 after choosing to chase.


	18. Chapter 18: Two generations meet

The 2 cars pulled up to the starting line with Sweeper in the leading position.  
For a change, Keiichi did the countdown and on the go the two cars launched onto the course.  
The FD launched hard with the 4WD system that Sweeper had put in it but the short lead that he gained on start was quickly reeled in by Joushima around the first few corners.  
Keiichi watched the 2 cars disappear before returning to the rest of the team and Carlos who were smiling.

"What are you smiling so wide about? You know the stakes if we lose don't you?" Keiichi said to Carlos.

"When will you stop worrying so much about losing a race? Don't you have ANY faith in us?" Carlos asked harshly back at Keiichi.

"I will stop worrying when this project is over… Besides it isn't your head that's on the line if we lose, my tuning shop risk being cut out of the World Cup franchise if we lose these races and quite frankly. WE NEED the commercial exposure we get can get from sponsoring the World Cup that you guys seem to enjoy yourself in. Even though we do not do live events…" Keiichi paused.

"Well for this race I am not sure who will win… But I can tell you the secret behind Sweeper's speed, or rather how he learned how to drive fast." Carlos looked at Keiichi.

"That would be interesting to hear Carlos, he has never told me." McClintock said as he reached for a soda can on the table that Jane was sitting next to.

"He has 20 years of military experience under his belt, and he started quite early… All those years of fighting do leave some marks on a man, and for Sweeper he lost the ability to sense fear…" Carlos paused and McClintock shot in.

"Now that is great! If he cannot feel any fear he can push the car even harder and go damned fast."

"It is not that good McClintock, your fear is there to protect you, that fear is helpful in telling that you are about to reach the limit of the car." Chang replied to McClintock.

"Chang is correct, since Sweeper has lost his ability to sense fear he is at risk if he loses concentration… He had learned to overcome the lack of fear and sense the car using his body and with that judge his own and the cars limit, but that requires concentration and if he loses it…" Carlos stopped as he thought of the scenario.

"He is bound to end up in an ugly crash!" Carlos finished the sentence.

"But how did he lose the ability in the first place? It sounds absurd to lose the fear just like that." Keiichi asked.

"Often getting extraction from a fire zone is quite difficult. So Sweeper often relied on own ways of transportation to get out of the heat, that meant with crappy cars or fast cars and that is driving under heavy fire from machine guns and tanks. Basically if you do a mistake like these mountain pass drivers here do, for an example understeering by a half tire width, it is not as severe on the road itself. But out on the battlefield that could mean getting hit by that tank shell, or that burst of 7.62mm. Basically Sweeper learned to drive fast under those conditions combined with a lot of luck, facing death uncountable amount of times your fear will gradually decrease and in the end disappear. That is what happened to Sweeper, even though I doubt he is sleeping well at nights and such from all the psychological scars he has received." Carlos said.

"How do you know all of this? Have you tried the same thing?" Keiichi asked.

"HELL NO! I am not suicidal enough to push my luck that far! He told me that when I asked where he had gotten his speed from… I have used more traditional methods to learn my skills. Practicing oversteer control on a dirt surface and then moving onto tarmac." Carlos replied quickly.

"I thought you and Sweeper hated rallying?" Chang asked.

"We hate rallying as a sport… It is great to learn the basics of oversteer control on as your counter steer requires less input compared to tarmac driving. But once you got the hang of it you screw the dirt and stick to the road. Even though I must admit it was fun beating the local Impreza boys on dirt with my Skyline." Carlos said and smiled.

"But how long can Sweeper keep his level of concentration?" Keiichi asked.

"That is a good question, I am sure you know the 30 minutes limit for humans? But it is really depending on the situation. He is not going to have many issues with his body at least since he is used to giving it more abuse than what he is doing now." Carlos replied.

"But shouldn't Sweeper have the definite advantage with all that power he has on the FD? It is a lightweight high powered car after all." McClintock protested.

"On a course like this the power will only help him so much, and with an opponent of that calibre it won't be of much help. His best bet is to drag it out and hope that the opponent makes a mistake." Carlos replied.

Keiichi grabbed the radio and got the report that the first run was over and the two cars were returning.  
Carlos went over to the starting line and waited for the FD and the S2000 to arrive for the 2nd run.  
After 10 minutes the 2 cars arrived at the top and the positions were reversed, Carlos got Sweeper to roll down the window.

"Just keep it going Sweeper, your best shot is stretching this out… Your tires are better than he is; you are using wider tires..." Sweeper interrupted Carlos.

"I know, that's what I am trying to do here, but he is not an easy opponent." Sweeper stopped.

"Tell me something I don't know! You think that God Foot guy was easy to beat? Anyways, just keep it up." Carlos walked away from Sweeper's FD as he rolled up the window and they went onto the second run.

Back at the stand the Takahashi's were still crunching numbers on a laptop and discussing in the distance.  
Carlos shook his head as he looked at Ryosuke and Keisuke talking.

"So they hope to crack same data out of this?" Carlos asked Jane.

"Yeah, after Sweeper made that bet they are eager on gathering as much data on our team as possible." Jane replied.

"A very smart tactic if you ask me. They are our main opponents after all." Keiichi said.

"Nevertheless, I doubt that Takahashi Ryosuke can hatch a winning solution against Sweeper, that's for sure." McClintock said and crunched the empty soda can.

On the downhill the positions were reversed and Sweeper was chasing Joushima, who was using lines that were meant to confuse the opponent.

"He sure is a fast driver, using the tire slip angles to achieve a faster way of driving. No wonder they call him God Hand. Though he isn't driving the best line of the course, but I won't fall for such a trick, not here, not now." Sweeper thought as he continued chasing the S2000.

It was a tricky race, as the opponent went absolutely all out on Sweeper; both of them were driving as fast as they could.  
God Hand had noted that the FD was keeping up without any visible problems at all.

At Hoshino's position the team was eagerly awaiting the results of the race when Hoshino spoke.

"The FD is a masterpiece in engineering. The S2000 is in fact a copy of Mazda's receipt on creating a cornering machine, everything from suspension setup to balancing out the body. However, stock for stock the FD would beat the S2000 because it has a much more powerful engine that is equipped with a turbocharger. The 13B-REW is a fearsome engine compared to the 13B-RE that was in the FC." Hoshino said.

"But what's the difference between the 2 13B's except their name?" A Purple shadow member asked.

"The W in the engine code is basically related to the dual air intake per intake port. It uses a single port at lower engine revs to improve low end torque, and opens up the secondary intake at higher RPM to aid in the quest for more power. But whatever the 13B had as strengths, the FD that Jou-chan is battling doesn't have that engine anymore, it has been reborn as a completely different car. It is a monster machine with very few weaknesses. Jou-chan doesn't have the engine response card to play either since the opponent is also running a NA engine. He is also at a disadvantage power wise and traction wise. Even though power is not the most significant factor on the downhill it still plays a role that you cannot ignore." Hoshino said.

"Will Joushima-san be allright?" The Purple shadow member asked.

"It depends, a stretched out battle will be disadvantageous for him. If he is going to make a difference he will have to make an attack early and try to leave the FD." Hoshino said.

The finish line radio guys relayed the message that the two cars had passed with minimal gap between them and it was time to prepare for a 3rd run.  
Several minutes later the cars rolled up the road again to do another downhill run.

"This can really take some time to settle…" Chang said.

"The opponent is top class after all; a few hardcore lovers of the World Cup have been saying that the best years were back in the 70's and the 80's. That was when the most skilled drivers were out on the courses and they were pretty good. Joushima Toshiya is from the 80's of the World Cup so he is a darn good driver. The fact that we actually got to see him again is amazing enough, but putting up a race like this…" Keiichi shivered as he thought of it.

"So it is that amazing? But how long can this last?" McClintock asked.

Carlos looked down at his clock and then back at the course where the two cars had disappeared around the corner for the 3rd run.

"20 minutes so far… We should start seeing some effects of wear and tear this round…" Carlos said.

"You are right Carlos, both tires and drivers is about to snap from the intense load put on them." Jane said to Carlos.

"No doubt will they keep on racing tail to nose through the course. This seems to be a true battle of endurance. But this time Sweeper is leading." Keiichi said.

"That may prove to be a problem. It is closing in on the 30 minutes deadline and already now the effects should start to show themselves. You cannot get past that level no matter how effort you put into concentration practice. It is genetically decided how long you can concentrate." Carlos said.

On the race course Sweeper was leading the race, but no matter how fast he went, that S2000 was right on his tail.  
Sweeper did put some distance on the straights but it was clear that Joushima had changed his driving style from when Sweeper was chasing, because now his cornering speed had increased compared to earlier in the race.

"I cannot shake him, no matter how hard I try… I need to push it some more." Sweeper thought as he approached the corner.

The FD dived into the corner at a fast speed, Sweeper noticed that he hadn't been paying attention to the G forces he had been feeling through his hips and now he was going too fast into the corner.  
The car was in a push understeer situation, the G load to the front tires were too high for the tires to sustain the grip of the road.  
Instantly Sweeper's left hand went off the wheel and the left foot slammed in the clutch pedal, the left hand continued its movement towards the parking brake and pulled it.  
A loud whine from the rear tires and the rear came swinging out, Sweeper quickly let go of the parking brake shifted down to get into the power band and starting to counter steer to prevent spinning out.  
Joushima tried to use this opportunity to counter attack but quickly noticed the FD was blocking the road while moving sideways.  
The RX-7 avoided the outer guardrail by a hair before it continued its acceleration.

"That could have gone bad if I had reacted slower, seems like I will have try not to lose my concentration." Sweeper thought.

Sweeper slammed the gas pedal to the floor and used the engine power to recover quickly.  
It was followed by a classic out-in-out line grip style cornering in the following corner.  
For Sweeper, drifting was something very natural, but he had an expertise within grip driving to allow him to conserve his tires through a race.

At the top the radio chimed in with a report:  
"This is point 3, the two cars just passed by. The FD did a handbrake drift through the corner then followed by a grip turn. But he is still leading the race!"

"This is what I feared would happen." Carlos said as he looked down on the tarmac.

"What do you mean by that?" Chang asked.

"Sweeper never uses the handbrake for anything else than to correct a mistake, such a mistake may be to go too fast into a corner. And he usually doesn't go too fast on the entry unless he has lost his concentration!" Carlos quickly replied.

"This race may go bad…" Keiichi said but was silenced by Jane.

"This is no time for pessimistic comments! Sweeper is not aiming at losing this race; I know that he will keep on pushing, no matter what!" Jane said.

"Yeah, he will push it as far as it can go; he drives with no fear so if it does get ugly it will get VERY ugly." Carlos said.

"What do you mean with very ugly?" McClintock asked.

"You know what he means, fatal crash at high speed… The type of crash you don't live to tell the tale about!" Chang said.

The 3rd round wrapped up with the same result as the earlier rounds.  
It was time for the 4th round, and everyone knew this was where it was going to be settled, it had already drawn out and both drivers and machines were getting tired.  
The two cars lined up for the start and on the go the 2 cars launched, but clearly it was a much lighter launch than what they had done earlier in the race.

"I cannot stand the thought of losing this race at this point…" Keiichi said followed by cursing in Japanese.

"Sweeper's chance of winning lies in this round, the S2000 is starting to show a weakness from his driving style." Jane said.

"And what would that be? That guy is a good at racing; I have yet to see a weakness." McClintock replied.

"Sure that his driving style gives him quite a bit of speed, but it is bound by the laws of physics. The driving style is putting a high load on the rear tires, and after racing for this long they are about finished now, not a whole lot of grip left in those. And Sweeper is running wider tires with a hard compound, the wider tires runs cooler and with a hard compound they can last a lot longer. In the end, the S2000 will lose due to its tires wearing out, and it is the worst way too." Jane said.

"Yes, an understeering car is easier to control than an oversteering car, because in an understeer situation all you can do is slam on the brakes. Oversteer however, requires skill in slowing down while maintaining direction, and since the S2000 is rear wheel drive, getting power down is also going to be more difficult. All in all, the longer this race stretches out the more disadvantageous it becomes for God Hand." Carlos said.

Down on the course, Sweeper was fighting to keep his focus on driving; it was difficult to do as he was getting tired from sustaining high G forces and sensing the limit of the car.  
As he looked at the S2000 diving into a corner he noticed the rear end let go and Joushima had to apply more counter steer to prevent it from spinning out.

"His S2000 is starting to become more oversteer happy… His tires must be wearing out! Yes! Finally an opening I can get in this race. My tires are still ok; I still have a firm grip of the road!" Sweeper thought and started stepping on the gas.

The FD begun to pick up the pace slightly and quickly closed in on the S2000, now it was just to keep applying pressure to the opponent and try to force an opening.  
On corner exits, having 4WD was clearly an advantage, the S2000 no longer stood any chance to escape the FD, Joushima had to be careful with the throttle since his rear tires were pretty much worn down.  
A straight popped into view and Sweeper did his first part of the counter attack, taking the inside lane as the S2000 went wide to get as much space for acceleration as possible, the two cars rolled up side by side for the next corner with Sweeper rolling for the outside.  
The straight was short and it quickly changed into a braking contest, the S2000 quickly dived in to take the inside, however Sweeper changed direction heading for the outside, waiting for Joushima to lose grip and enter counter steer mode.  
The entry speed he had used to cut off Sweeper was a bit high, and resulted in grip loss at the rear end of the car.  
As the S2000 begun drifting for the outside, the FD cut the inside and used its 4WD traction to out accelerate and pass Joushima.  
Joushima couldn't accelerate any harder, his rear tires were at their limit, all he could do was watch the FD take off and dive into the next corner.  
The battle was settled, it was all over, the cars had decided the victory over the driver.

At the top the radio report ticked in.

"This is the finish line! The FD won, I repeat the FD passed the S2000 and it won the race!"

"Roger that, head back up here we are done." Jane replied in the radio before she turned towards Keiichi.

"We are lucky that your pessimistic attitude doesn't affect the races." Jane said in a joking tone.

"Assume the worst, but hope for the best…" Keiichi replied.

The team had some small chat until the 2 cars returned to the top and Sweeper got out of his FD to greet the rest of the team.  
Even though a normal person would clearly show signs of having issues walking, Sweeper didn't.

"That was the most intense battle I have ever experienced… Only Carlos can give me those kinds of moments usually." Sweeper said.

"Well we are heading back now; this is wrapped up with another nice victory… Next stop will be Irohazaka next weekend." Keiichi said.

"Emperor will be a cake walk compared to these guys." Sweeper said before he headed off to the bus, leaving the job of loading up his car to the mechanics.

Joushima and Hoshino went over to Jane and Keiichi who had already begun packing up their gear.

"It was some great races tonight! So how are the World Cup events running?" Joushima asked.

"Well, next year is a celebration run, we are going mountain passes only to celebrate the addition of these to the track list instead of the normal highway runs and circuit races. Was there anything in particular you wondered about?" Keiichi asked.

"Well, we are interested in joining up for next year and see how some of the younger generations drive… It was great fun back in the 80s; it is something we both have missed." Hoshino replied.

"Not a problem at all, there are a few newcomers that have applied for next years competition, it is invite only so we will get back to you later on, any phone number we can reach you guys on?" Keiichi took out a notepad and a pen.

Hoshino and Joushima gave Keiichi their phone numbers and wandered off to their cars.  
While the mechanics finished the loading up and headed out, and that concluded another weekend of racing.


	19. Chapter 19: Change of choice

Sweeper woke up early Tuesday night; he had gone early to bed while the remaining of the team had a nightlong party at Chang's bar.  
Unable to sleep he decided to head to Akina and practice on the course, at this time to the day he wouldn't be likely to encounter anyone else.  
Which would give Sweeper a lot of elbow room to play around and analyze the course at his own pace.  
Sweeper quickly got dressed and jumped into his FD and took off lightly since his 4 rotor was everything but quiet and he didn't feel like waking up everyone with a loud roar from his engine.

As he arrived on Akina he begun to take a few runs on the downhill, getting used to the line through the corners, it was a difficult course to drive, and he understood why the AE86 was at an advantage on it.  
The hours went by and on Sweeper's 4th downhill run, he noticed a set of headlights catching up, and they were coming up pretty fast.

"What the hell? Somebody is driving here at this hour and at that speed?" Sweeper thought.

As the car caught up Sweeper noticed it was a blue Impreza WRX.  
It started to make a few moves to pass on the straightaway.

"Like hell that I will let you pass! This will be good practice." Sweeper slammed the gas pedal to the floor and the 4 rotor woke up to life leaving off a roar like a F1 engine.

The Impreza was being left behind due to the massive power in the FD.  
Sweeper got a shock when he begun to dive into the corner, the Impreza was catching up to him.  
It was a lot faster through that corner than Sweeper was with his FD.

"What the hell? You can keep up with my FD? I guess you are a bit better than I thought you were; now you leave me no choice but to go all out." Sweeper thought as he dived in at the FD's limit in the next corner.

The Impreza followed by a drift and were closing in the gap on the FD yet again, still corner exits were the same with the FD winning on traction and power.  
At the 5 hairpins Sweeper started drifting the car, a sign that he was taking the opponent seriously and using a skill that he had perfected over long time practice.  
However, when he looked in his left mirror he saw the Impreza drop into the gutter to keep a higher speed through the corner.

"DAMNIT that is a technique I cannot copy, my tires are too wide to fit into the gutter!" Sweeper cursed as the Impreza lined up at his side for the next corner.

At the next corner the Impreza cut in front of Sweeper and dived into the gutter while Sweeper braked to clear the corner.  
The last thing Sweeper saw was the driver lighting a cigarette while driving with no hands and that took Sweeper's breath away.  
At the corner exit Sweeper slammed on the gas pedal in a last attempt to use engine power to catch up to the Impreza.  
But it was of no use, the Impreza dived into the next corner and mind dazzling speeds, and an undefeated legend had ended.  
Sweeper slammed on the brakes and stopped the car.

"In all my years of driving, I have never lost like this, I have lost a few times due to mechanical failures but never have I experienced such a difference in skill before. So such a driver does exist, I lost to an underpowered Impreza with my high powered and modified FD, this is outrageous really." Sweeper thought before he started driving again, heading back to Tokyo.

Back in Tokyo the rest of the crew were eating breakfast when Sweeper came barging through the door.

"Hey what's up Sweeper? You look like you have seen a ghost." McClintock asked.

"Maybe I have." Sweeper replied.

"Stop messing around, we all know that ghosts do not exist. Or else I would be seeing lots of them." Carlos said in an attempt to fire up a joke.

"Well, you can forget my last statement that I said a week ago!" Sweeper said as he went to the breakfast table.

"Which statement?" Keiichi asked.

"I am NOT going to retire…" Sweeper started before he paused and reached for the bread.

"WHAT? I know you Sweeper; you NEVER go back on a statement like that, what made you change your mind? Sure you aren't ill?" Carlos asked.

"I went to Akina to practice while you guys were sleeping out after that party last night… And I…" Sweeper stopped.

"I don't like this." Chang said as he had a feeling of what he was going to say.

"I… Lost a race… I lost to a blue Impreza WRX, it wasn't a close loss either, I was totally outrun and the guy was doing zero counter drifts while lighting a cigarette, now how embarrassing is that?" Sweeper said while clearing showing that he didn't like the outcome.

Carlos' immediate response was spitting the coffee over the floor then shouting out "WHAT!"

"You lost to an Impreza? GIVE ME A BREAK! 4WD system to 4WD System your FD is superior, grip wise your car is superior. Handling and weight wise your car is superior. I just don't see how in the hottest and blackest hell you could possibly lose! I don't care who this guy is, but I want to meet him and avenge you with my GT-R!" Carlos said with a clear tone of anger and disappointment.

"Did you see which type of Impreza it was?" Jane asked.

"Of course I got a good look at it, front first then the rear. It was a Version 5 WRX STi GC8 Coupe with the front end from a 22B Impreza, but that driver is beyond what you can beat with your GT-R Carlos, I even tried to pull away with my engine power; I could only mount a successful assault on the straights, only to lose badly in corners. No matter how hard I pushed my tires grip, he still seemed to stick more and have a lot more control than me." Sweeper said.

"Winning on power is elementary in your case… But with those tire sizes you guys use I would believe that your FD should have a lot more gripping potential than that Impreza, from your description it does seem like the driver is top notch." Jane started.

"Indeed he is I was beat at my best skill, tire grip management… Nothing is more frustrating than to lose in corners and win on power when you got very little straights to work with. The more I think about it, the more frustrated I get." Sweeper took a bite of the bread he had on his plate.

"Now that has me puzzled… I doubt it can be the guy I am thinking of… He was said to be just a legend after all. But it doesn't match the car at all, he didn't drive an Impreza at all, heck, back then the Impreza didn't exist. But this has me interested" Keiichi said as his face took the pondering expression.

"Whatever Keiichi, just remember everyone not a word around this must leave this room! Is that clear?" Jane said while knocking her pointer finger at the table.

"Fine by us…" Carlos, McClintock and Chang said in choir.

"It is not like I want to tell anyone else about this." Sweeper replied to Jane.

"To change subject, did anyone hear of the incident up in the mountain pass that Norio frequents?" Jane asked.

"You mean where all the rejects go?" Chang asked back at Jane.

"Yeah, some guy was being a wise guy last night and headed up there, I recall his last name was Stella or something, an American unless my memory is faulty… He didn't return after challenging Sinjo." Jane said.

"I never liked that guy anyways; usually a bullet is the best way to fix people like that… I guess that Sinjo for once did us a favour. That guy kept criticising our cars and skills at the bar before Chang here told him to head up and see Sinjo if he thought he was that good himself." Sweeper commented.

"And allow me to guess, Sinjo got off from the police without an incident after this too?" Chang asked.

"Of course, it was all blamed on reckless driving, or as racers say it: He pushed it too far." Keiichi replied.

"I must say that Sinjo really knows how to clean up his house so to speak." McClintock said as he sipped of a glass of juice.

"Enough about Sinjo for now and before I lose my appetite lets change the subject. The team leader of Emperor called me not long ago wanting to reschedule the match due to some matters that had gotten in the way. I said it was ok after speaking with Kenneth of the Southern Knights, he has agreed to have his battle this weekend instead of the next. So you guys can put Sudou Kyoichi hunting on hold for now and focus on the old school V8's instead." Keiichi announced.

"Old school V8's… I have owned one, a Pontiac Trans Am that I lately bought a Chevrolet engine to put in it. But cornering wise, V8's isn't something that worries me. The old school V8 cars are horrible platforms to build race cars from unless you rip out everything including the chassis and start from scratch. But then again, the expenses and time spent would make a GT-R or RX-7 near F1 cars in comparison. There is a reason I retired my Trans Am for drag racing." Sweeper said.

"A Trans Am? You owned an American muscle car?" Carlos got really puzzled.

"I have owned a few cars before I finally settled on the RX-7, there was that black understeering Trans Am and an old blue 1980's Porsche 911 RR layout… The latter I crashed in a Porsche 911 racing event. I braked too late and under steered into a concrete wall, I survived though but the car was done for, the cost of repairing everything was so high that I decided to retire it instead. Back then I was really in a pulp, I thought I didn't have anything going for me when it came to racing. But the purchase of my 1998 Type RS changed all of that." Sweeper said.

"How much power does that Trans Am put down?" McClintock asked.

"Around 2000 HP or so, boosted of course. It isn't a true car before it is boosted in some way. Plus a big power nitrous system on top of that." Sweeper replied.

"Why don't you use that for Wangan racing? I am pretty sure that you would give Kenneth a run for his money with that BTR of his. That Demon machine as they call it." Carlos asked.

"Simply put, even though the highways here in Tokyo and other places do not have that many sharp corners, that Trans Am would probably dust the BTR when it was straight, but the first sloppy corner it would be HELLO concrete wall and you would be having a Pontiac Trans Am that was fulfilling the length requirement for Japanese K class cars!" Sweeper replied a bit harshly.

"So compared to Kenneth he has a power demon and you have an understeer demon?" Jane asked as a joke.

"Could probably beat the Front wheel drive cars in the field of understeer… And to make it more embarrassing it is REAR WHEEL DRIVE!" Sweeper partly shouted out.

"It doesn't sound very good." Chang said.

"Well, now that I think of it, I am glad Jane pointed me in the direction of rotaries. If it hadn't been for her, I would never been a World Cup driver, I would probably be wrapped around the nearest tree or something like that." Sweeper said while throwing a look at Jane.

"Ok, Akina's mountain pass it is then! How is it to drive Sweeper?" Carlos asked.

"It is very difficult, it would really challenge you and your R34 Carlos, I understand why the AE86 can drive so fast on it now, but what I don't understand is how that…" Sweeper was interrupted by Jane.

"THAT topic is finished, wrapped up, gone, MIA, KIA, Away with leave! Whatever, don't talk about it!" Jane said.

"Well then, we better prepare ourselves for the run against the Southern Knights then." Carlos said.

As the weekend came, the team headed off to Akina to the race against the Southern Knights.  
Even though Sweeper had a hunch that he had seen Kenneth before, he didn't reveal that.  
It was time for the races…

**Author's notes: The race on Akina is not featured in this story, for that you will have to refer to SouthSideSlider's "Southern Knights" As he has featured it there under the chapter Project S. Even though the chapter numbers may seem weird that I am leaving out a chapter and a race here, just bear with it for now. Ok, onward to chapter 20 then! Next stop Irohazaka and Emperor!**


	20. Chapter 20: The power of fury

After the rather vague win on Akina, the Project S team had officially begun their move towards the Gunma area. The race against the Southern Knights had just been a taste of what was to come; Sudou was prepared to take on the invaders and had gathered up his team with a few new comers, Satake still had issues with Seiji, but for this battle they were on the same side.

As the trucks pulled in at the top and the Project S team begun unloading their equipment it was quite clear the invasion had begun with Emperor as the Prelude. Unlike earlier battles, this battle carried a huge audience, teams from Gunma and previous teams that had been defeated by Project S were there to watch. Even Chang's own NSX team was present, except Norio and Sinjo's team. Sakura looked around to see if she could spot Sweeper and his FD, because that was her motivation factor for coming to watch this race.

"Seen Sweeper around?" Sakura asked Carlos who were busy checking a few things under the hood of his GT-R.

"Sweeper? I saw him around here recently, you could try over there." Carlos pointed out in a direction without looking up from the engine bay.

Sakura moved on and spotted Sweeper fiddling with some gear in one of the trucks, as she approached him from behind he was clearly spooked.

"WHOA! Don't sneak up on someone like that… Wait a minute, you are Sakura right? From Chang's team Venom right?" Sweeper asked.

"Yeah that is correct, I thought I was going to come over and see how you were doing." Sakura said.

"Well I am doing fine, just need to get a few race preparations done." Sweeper quickly replied to Sakura.

"What kind of preparations?" Sakura asked as she tried to look past Sweeper to catch a view of what he was doing.

Sweeper quickly responded by positioning himself in her line of sight and throwing a blanket over his work.

"It is… Well… Classified." Sweeper tried as an excuse.

Just then two figures from Emperor came walking over; Sweeper quickly recognized them as Sudou Kyoichi and one of his henchmen, Satake. Satake clearly threw a look at Sakura, a look that Sakura didn't like at all.

"What do we have here? A girl in a man's world? I suppose you need her to help you out with a few racing things eh Sweeper?" Satake asked rudely.

"I think she can pretty much hold her own… After all, she owns a Honda NSX Type S-Zero like her team mates does." Sweeper replied.

"Why does a girl need a car like that? No girl in the world is fast enough to warrant such a machine." Satake replied back.

"You son of a…" Sakura was starting to get all fired up, Chang was a bit off, and as he spotted Sakura and saw her face looks he realized what was about to happen.

"Girls will never be good in racing, take my advice and sell that car, then go and buy yourself a Toyota Vitz or something like that."

Chang was running towards Sakura, but it was too late for him. Sakura's fist had already landed in Satake's face and sent him flying backwards and down onto the tarmac.

"If you really think I am so slow, why don't you agree to race my NSX and find out if your claim can hold any water at all?" Sakura said with a lot of anger.

Sweeper just halfway astonished, and Carlos having heard the arguing earlier on, looked up from his mechanical work and spotted Sakura knocking Satake down to the ground. That made Carlos nearly hit the ground as well, never in his life had he seen something like that happen.  
As he ran over to the location and witnessed Sweeper's look and Satake getting up he asked Sweeper a simple question.

"The rest of the crowd around here is in shock, why aren't you surprised Sweeper?" Carlos asked.

"Seen it before… My choice of girls had normally been the kind that beats the crap out of the officers before resigning just because they think they are better than them. You just got to remember to stay out of their way." Sweeper replied calmly.

"SHUT UP!" Satake spitted onto the ground before looking at Sakura, "You are on! What about RIGHT NOW?" Satake asked Sakura.

"It should be allright; Seiji is racing instead of you tonight so this is allright with me." Kyoichi broke in to let Sakura know that she could accept with no restrictions.

"You are on with that, I am really going to enjoy this!" Sakura walked away as Chang finally got over to Sweeper.

"Don't tell me that happened what I thought would happen?" Chang asked Sweeper.

"Depends on what you thought would happen there Chang." Carlos cut in.

"Sakura challenging somebody to a race in anger to make it short." Chang said.

"Yeah, that is just what happened, after knocking the opponent to the ground of course." Sweeper replied.

"Sakura sure hasn't changed since the days we ran the mountain passes, that's for sure. I thought she may have gotten a little less furious and a bit calmer…"

"That girl hasn't changed one bit Chang… Only thing that has changed is her driving. She is a lot faster now than she ever was before." Sam said as he showed up on the scene, Kyoichi just sighed and walked away from the band of racers and back to the Emperor boys.

"Sakura is a special girl indeed Sam, she is damn good looking and most men would probably fall flat out just for that. But then you add up her love for cars and racing and she will rack in quite a few points with some men. But even so, she is not my type at all…" Koji said as he popped out from behind Sam.

"Too furious I take it?" Sweeper asked.

"WAY too wild, that girl has her own way of getting things her way. Most men that know her usually give her a lot of respect on the border to fear. To be honest I think that Satake guy is in for a world of hurt." Koji replied.

"Physically I guess he knows that world of hurt has begun. He was knocked down after all." Carlos said with a smile.

Satake lined up his EVO 4 next to Sakura's yellow NSX.  
Sudou did the countdown and the two cars took off, with the EVO 4 winning on launch due to 4WD, but the NSX left with the common VTEC roar chasing after the EVO 4.  
At the first corner the spectators saw the NSX pass the EVO 4 and dive in at a high speed.

Just then Sweeper noticed some familiar muscle cars and walked over to check them out.  
Near one of the cars he noticed Kenneth, Sweeper approached him and started a conversation.

"Nice to see you here tonight Kenneth, I didn't think you would head out to Nikko just for this." Sweeper said.

"Ah… Hello Sweeper, well I cannot just sit around and do nothing, who is the one battling now if it isn't anyone from your team?" Kenneth asked.

"It is Sakura Tanaka, a member of Chang's Team Venom. Apparently one of the Emperor kids said something nasty to her that got her all fired up. Well it should prove interesting to see what her abilities are." Sweeper said as he looked towards the downhill of the Irohazaka course.

"Hey Sweeper, you should come and check this out!" Carlos shouted from the parking lot.

"Looks like I'll have to go we will speak more later." Sweeper said and ran off towards Carlos.

Carlos was looking at a Toyota Celica and a certain rally driver.

"Hey Sweeper, check that guy out. Kyouchi's best friend, that Sainz rally driver guy." Carlos said.

"It is sad to see rally drivers around here; he is supposed to be so damn good on the road… But the fact that he isn't past the sandbox stage just makes me annoyed." Sweeper said to Carlos as he looked at the Emperor guys that had gathered around him.

"Right on there Sweeper, I bet that if we went to race this guy we would probably spank him so badly that it wouldn't worth our time. Rally drivers are slow compared to tarmac pro's, the moment you have learned oversteer control you leave the rally scene. That's what I have always been saying, hey Sweeper do you think he will race tonight?" Carlos asked.

"I doubt he will, but we may come here some other time to battle this guy! It has been a long time since the last time I crushed a rally driver. They are all the same in build-up and driving style. Seen one and you have seen them all." Sweeper said as he walked away from the Celica driver with Carlos.

As Carlos and Sweeper got back to Chang and the rest, they were gathered around Chang's radio, listening for news on the NSX vs. EVO 4 race.

Koji and Sam where hanging over Chang's shoulders to get a good opportunity of listening to the reports.

"This is the 32nd corner, the yellow NSX is still leading, but the EVO is closely in pursuit, but Sakura still has some to give it seems." The radio silenced for a while.

"What has Sakura done to her NSX?" Carlos asked.

"It is in NA tune, I think it puts down close to 380 HP now, she detuned it after the Sinjo incident to fit mountain pass racing. Otherwise she still sticks to NA but she makes a lot more power than that." Koji said.

"Have you noticed something about Sakura, Sweeper?" Chang asked.

"If you mean something else than that she is a furious woman, then I have no idea what you mean." Sweeper said.

"She has a crush on you Sweeper! She told me that on Wednesday this week. It was one of the reasons she came here tonight" Chang said.

"STOP KIDDING AROUND WITH ME CHANG!" Sweeper shouted out before continuing, "I am a mercenary, get that? I am a mercenary, I kill people for a living, and I go to the battlefield to earn money. That comes with a few disadvantages and that includes that I am unable to have a girl. I have said it thousand times before; I cannot stand or think clearly if I have a woman with maybe a child waiting for me to come home from a mission. It is an unbearable load for the both of us; Sakura is better off finding someone else!" Sweeper said with a clear aggressive tone.

"You are and will always be a paradox Sweeper; you try to unite that Keisuke guy with that Kyoko girl. But when you find yourself in the same situation you turn her down. I guess you should understand why Keisuke cannot have Kyoko around then, because you are doing the EXACT same thing!" Jane said as she came up from behind.

"Don't make me repeat myself, my job limits me greatly. Even though my current girl is not a true relationship I cannot change that." Sweeper continued.

"Then change your profession, apply for a different job then!" Sam said.

"Have you seen my CV? I got a 10 year hole there and with ZERO education my chances of getting a different job is slim to none. And even if I got one, I got no skills or talents at something else than what I do now. Things happened in my youth that forced me to pick the military over education, I may not like my job a lot but it is the ONLY thing I can do." Sweeper was getting pretty fired up.

"Well, Sakura is out there trying to prove herself to you. Show off her driving skills so you will notice her." Koji told Sweeper.

"Whatever, discussing with you guys is like discussing with a brick wall. I am leaving for a while before the race." Sweeper said

Before anyone could say anything Sweeper walked away and headed towards a deserted part of the parking lot where he Sweeper sat down on the ground under a light pole.  
As Sweeper was sitting under the light of the pole he thought of things he had never thought of before, his life was truly a mess.  
But Sweeper knew it was something that came with the territory of being a mercenary.  
Just then Carlos walked over and looked at Sweeper leaning his back against the pole.

"Why are you here Carlos? I told the rest of the team that I was going to race didn't I?" Sweeper said to Carlos.

"Yes you did, you can say I came here to offer you some moral support so to speak."

"The sad part is that they are correct after all. I find myself in one of the biggest paradoxes as of this date…" Sweeper paused as he looked at Carlos.

"I suppose they are correct, but even so you still have restrictions to how you can handle a girl." Carlos replied quickly.

"Thanks Carlos, but I have realized it is not possible to keep on like this forever, I'll talk to Sakura and maybe she will understand, at least give her a chance to understand what she is getting into." Sweeper said.

"Well, just remember that I am here… As a rival and a friend I don't like seeing you get hurt." Carlos said.

"Aw come on Carlos, it cannot go that badly, now can it?" Sweeper said and rose up from the ground and walked back to the rest of the team.

Chang, Koji and Sam looked shocked when Sweeper returned, as it was not expected.

"Ok you have convinced me, I'll talk to Sakura about this whole love thing. But I am warning you, she might not like what she is getting to hear." Sweeper said.

"Whatever it is, I am sure you will be surprised of Sakura, she is not your average girl you know. She is vastly different." Koji said while smiling.

Another report ticked in over the radio.

"This is the 35th corner; the EVO 4 just did a shortcut jump and got ahead of the NSX… WAIT, the EVO 4 is repeating the performance at the corner ahead, but what is this? The NSX driver has gone crazy! She is copying his move!" The operator were in shock as he saw the NSX quickly catch up to the EVO 4 in the same manner that she was passed.

"What the hell? Not even that Fujiwara guy could copy a move that quickly." McClintock was clearly shocked.

"That is Sakura for you, when she is angry she tends to catch up quickly. That's why it became a common tactic to try to calm her down before a race rather than pissing her off. If you did the latter, you were doomed to lose from the beginning." Koji said with a smile.

The end of the course were coming up with the 3rd bridge, it was time for Sakura to make a counter attack on the EVO.  
She lined up for the other lane and opened up the throttle, it was going to be a chicken match for the point where the road would close down to a single lane.  
The yellow NSX lined up next to the EVO with Sakura concentrating on the road ahead.  
Satake looked over to his left and saw Sakura accelerate hard with no fear for what was coming up.

"Stupid girl, don't you know what is coming up? The road will close down to a single lane; there is no way we can go in like this!" Satake thought.

Satake panicked as the NSX showed no signs of slowing down, his worst fears had come true, and the driver of the yellow NSX had gone crazy.  
He slammed on the brakes and slowed down the EVO 4 and let the NSX dive in front of him, and in doing so, he had lost the race.

At the top Chang's team cheered as the radio report of Sakura's win came in.

"Sakura is just as crazy as she has ever been!" Sam said with a big smile.

"She is in a class on her own when it comes to racing hard. But then again, what do you expect of a furious girl that hates losing a race?" Koji asked while laughing slightly.

A little later the two cars arrived at the top and Sakura got out of her yellow NSX with a grin on her face as she looked at Satake.  
Satake on the other hand was angry at Sakura for the move she pulled off.

"What the hell where you thinking, diving in there at that speed and you knew it was impossible to pass. If I hadn't braked it would have been a tragic ending to this." Satake was clearly angry.

"I knew since the beginning that you didn't have the balls to remain in there… But then again, I never had any intention of backing down." Sakura replied and walked away.

"No intention of backing off? And what if the EVO driver had remained off the brakes?" Carlos asked Koji.

"She would most likely have remained in her pattern until they had ended up in a crash. She is a crazy girl." Koji replied.

"What the… What the hell have you ended up in Sweeper?" Carlos said as he turned towards Sweeper with a shocked face.

"Like you wouldn't do that Carlos… I know you are probably just as crazy when it comes to driving, but you usually back off before I do however." Sweeper replied.

"No shit Sherlock! I remember on one of our street races, that highway ramp battle we had. Side by side for a highway ramp which only had one lane, now that was crazy." Carlos said.

"Hey Sweeper and Carlos, we got a slight change of tonight's battle plans… It is going to be all out downhill." Keiichi said as he ran up to Carlos and Sweeper carrying some notes.

"SAY WHAT?" Both Carlos and Sweeper asked.

"I said we were going to run all battles on the downhill tonight; however your battle is going to be the last one before we pack up." Keiichi said.

"Ours will be the last?" Carlos and Sweeper asked and looked at each other.

"No one briefed you about it?" Keiichi asked.

"Why the hell haven't I been notified about this?" Sweeper asked harshly back.

"We are running a 3 way battle, to somewhat favour the win for Kyoichi. The rules are rather simple, for us to win Kyoichi needs to come in last if he even comes in as 2nd we will lose. Kyoichi has already chosen his position, he chose centre." Keiichi said.

"Well, well, look at this, seems like we may get a chance to settle this after all?" Carlos asked Sweeper.

"HOWEVER, you guys are to battle last Chang is responsible for the downhill battle against Seiji, you may have your go after that is done."

"Do you ever get the feeling of being ignored Carlos?" Sweeper asked.

"Yes I do, but there is nothing we can do about it for now." Carlos replied


	21. Chapter 21: The NSX Champion

As Chang lined up at the starting line the members of Chang's Team Venom walked over to Carlos and Sweeper who were discussing.

"I am telling you that a GT-R would be the best for this kind of course." Carlos said to Sweeper.

"It would be too heavy Carlos, this course is more suited to the more annoying permanent 4WD machines..." Sweeper was interrupted.

"Excuse me for interrupting you guys but we need to ask you a few things about this race..." Koji asked the two discussing Project S members.

"Ask us about what?" Carlos replied.

"Will Chang be allright with this? That Seiji has improved quite a bit since the last time he raced somebody." Sam asked.

"Now that you mention it, off the line Chang doesn't stand a chance at all. 4WD is superior at launching from a standstill, though it wears a lot on the drivetrain." Sweeper replied.

"To be exact it is the clutch that gets most of the punishment in a hard 4WD launch... Although the Skyline GT-R in stock trim is certified for 8k RPM launches... I know because I have tried it several times, just don't do that to a tuned GT-R on stock drivetrain." Carlos replied with a smile.

Just then the countdown was finished and as Sweeper had predicted the EVO rocketed into the lead with the 4WD advantage from the start.  
Chang was already at full throttle but the Evo 4 was pulling away into the first corner.

"Is it going to be a repeat of Sakura's race?" Carlos asked as he saw the Evo dive into the corner.

"Nah, Chang got other tactics he likes to play. Funny enough that Seiji doesn't like using those jump techniques that Sakura used to counter attack Satake. But unlike Sakura, Chang knows his NSX in and out, maybe not consciously but when the situation calls for it he can wedge that NSX into any line and any speed he feels for it. Of course with the tire limits though, he cannot make his car turn faster than the tires can resist the will to make the car get push understeer. But I don't think he will have a problem in this race, or at least I hope he won't." Sweeper replied to Carlos.

"Speaking of Sakura, aren't you supposed to go and speak with her?" Koji asked Sweeper.

"Yeah, I'll do that now... But like I said, no promises." Sweeper left the band, although Sam were smiling as if he knew what was going to happen.

On the course the drivers had already entered the continuous downhill corners.

The Evo 4 was leading with Chang catching up, the Evo was losing on mid cornering performance to the lighter and more responsive NSX.  
Chang's supercharger provided him with the power he desired and it was the perfect type of power for this kind of course.  
Seiji was in for the battle of his life, the opponent was not a push over like Thunder Fire had been, he had the machine that was superior to the Evo in cornering abilities and the skill to make it happen.

Meanwhile Sweeper found Sakura checking out the engine bay of her NSX, doing a post race inspection.  
Sweeper approached her from behind while she was fiddling around with a wrench in the engine bay.

"You are Sakura Tanaka right?" Sweeper started with a slightly shy voice.

Sakura dropped the wrench and it made a metal rattling sound as it fell out from the engine bay and onto the ground.

"Whoa! I am sorry for the mess, but I didn't expect somebody to show up." Sakura started while trying to cover the stains she had on the work clothes.

"It is allright Sakura... Well... Damn I really suck at this." Sweeper started.

"If you got the time maybe you would care to help me get this pesky valve cover off? It seems to be stuck on the head for some reason." Sakura said.

"Sure, it cannot be that hard to remove." Sweeper said and walked over to the car to have a look into the engine bay.

To Sweeper's surprise the bay was fairly clean compared to his own engine bay in the FD that was stained from the last engine swap.  
Sweeper pulled out a ratchet from the toolbox and started screwing on some bolts.

"Sakura, I spoke with your teammates, Chang, Koji and Sam to be exact." Sweeper said and started using the ratchet on a bolt.

"I guess I know what they told you... Koji is very quick at sensing such things, they used to call him a Love Machine before he got into racing. He used to hangout with girls a lot and really thought of himself as God's gift to the girl. But after he got a NSX and begun racing he lost interest in that kind of thing, but he still knows a beginning relationship when he sees one. Although he seems to thread very careful around me for some reason." Sakura said to Sweeper.

"Well, I decided to come here and tell you a few things... Damn I REALLY REALLY suck at this kind of thing." Sweeper replied.

"Just speak right from the liver, I can handle it, forget the sugarcoating." Sakura said in a decided voice.

"Well I am a mercenary by trade and that makes binding with someone rather difficult. I am rarely home, and when I am it is never for a long period of time before you are on a mission again somewhere in the world." Sweeper said and removed the bolt he was working on.

"I may be able to control my own feelings for getting home somewhat, it would be a new challenge but I have been through a lot these years I have been working so experience will help me a bit. But the worrying for me to get back to you will be a problem for you." Sweeper continued.

Sakura went silent for a while as Sweeper served those words.

"It is not that I do not like you, but the problem is I cannot change my line of work. I tried it once and well the attempts went rather badly. So..." Sweeper was interrupted.

"Look here Mr Sweeper, and "I know it all" here is a little news flash! They don't call me the craziest NSX driver in town, and why do they call me that? Because I LIKE TAKING RISKS, I hate losing a battle and I will do anything to prevent that. And I think I can live with the fact that you need to do your mercenary work wherever that may be. But to counter your offer you got to live with the same thing when it comes to my racing! You saw what I did against Satake and I bet that Koji already told you about how far I am willing to go to achieve that win." Sakura replied with a harsh tone, clearly showing that she had been annoyed.

"Jeez, you are just like Gwen was when we met... Although she didn't drive a car, she flies helicopters." Sweeper said.

"Gwen? You already got a girlfriend?" Sakura asked.

"Depends on how look at it, if you mean a true relationship then you are way off, we may meet every now and then but if you asked us we would say no. We both like our work more than a relationship, or rather I am not a fan of what I do though, but rather I got no choice but to love it." Sweeper said and pulled off the valve cover.

"Well then... I'll cut straight to the point. How about a date?" Sakura asked.

Sweeper was clearly caught by surprise when Sakura said that.

"Don't jump to conclusions just yet, I will not accept your answer before we are done with Project S, you can give me the answer on Akina after the battle is done there." Sweeper handed Sakura the valve cover and walked away.

"I am pretty sure I will have the same decision at that time as well." Sakura shouted after Sweeper.

"Just think it over first, do not jump to a conclusions without knowing what comes with the territory... There may be more mines with the territory than you possibly want." Sweeper replied to Sakura and kept walking away.

On the downhill Chang was right on Seiji's tail and was preparing his attack.  
Seiji was clearly losing his temper from the pressure that the red NSX was applying from behind.  
And on the exit Seiji went wider with his drift than what he originally intended.  
Chang used that advantage and snapped the inside during the turn, it was now a fierce acceleration contest between a supercharged NSX and a Evo 4.  
Even though the Evo 4 had 4WD the initial acceleration put down by the NSX put the NSX ahead early so all the Evo could achieve was getting up on its side and holding the position for the upcoming corner.

Chang braked hard and started his turn in for the corner that was when Seiji executed his plan.  
His Evo came in and bumped into Chang's front fender, disrupting his rhythm and allowing Seiji to slip into the lead.  
Chang's NSX lost front grip and slided out of the inside path opening a path for Seiji to take.

"This is normal in professional racing, don't be offended." Seiji thought as his Evo rocketed into the lead.

"You did that on purpose! Where is your dignity in racing?" Chang thought and slammed hard on the gas pedal, the dragon had awoken.

On the next corner the NSX went in aggressive with a true zero counter drift followed by fierce exit acceleration.  
At Carlos' location the radio message ticked in:

"The NSX attempted a pass of the Evo 4 but the Evo defended the inside and now it seems like the NSX driver has gone insane! He is driving a lot more aggressive than he did earlier on."

"Seems like Chang has gone all out on this." Sweeper said to Carlos.

"Indeed he has, I have never seen him drive like that in the dry before..." Carlos replied.

"You guys really haven't seen Chang drive at his best on dry tarmac before now have you?" Sam asked.

"He races in the GT1000 class in the World Cup, I have seen his NSX a lot of times as I lap him with the GT-Unlimited class trying to catch or outrun Carlos." Sweeper replied to Sam.

"Well, even then he rarely goes all out, he is having several stages which he needs to enter to get all his speed out. Like Sakura the best way to unleash performance out of Chang is to have him mad as hell. When he is angry enough and is driving as hard as he can I have often seen the chassis carry signs of such driving..." Koji said.

"Carry signs of it?" Carlos asked.

"G force's attempting to crumble the car as it sticks, although it is hard to spot, it is there, even with the roll cage. And then we got the numerous dents and scratches in the paint job. If you remember how Fujiwara Takumi drove when he was angry, this guy drives the same way, slamming into the guardrails to help turn the car around." Koji said softly.

"Ramming the guardrails? How does he get faster with doing that?" Carlos asked.

"You use the return action from the impact with the guardrail to slam the car into oversteer. It can be faster in some situations but racers normally refrain from using such techniques as it damages the car and of course nobody likes to damage their car. The few racing buddies I hanged with we used to call it crash'n drift." Sweeper said.

"Did you guys practice that technique as well?" Sam asked.

"Well we did in the army, but then we were messing with tanks and bunkers so the few dents and scratches we got didn't matter much. It was very easy to blame on exercise damage rather than careless driving." Sweeper smiled.

"Did you serve with the armor unit or what?" Sam said.

"Let's change topic from my army past eh?" Sweeper replied while sending a look that he didn't like the subject.

On the downhill the final corner were coming up for the sloppy section where the 3 bridges were.  
Chang's best attack point was using an old trick he had used before.  
Seiji slammed on the brakes and slowed down in his Evo for the corner, to his surprise the NSX came charging in and braked late.  
Making them go into the corner side by side.  
The match was decided the moment the two of them let go of the accelerator and proceeded with the turnin.  
The cars went side by side up until the exit came up and it was time for full throttle.  
Chang's NSX rocketed forward and into the lead while Seiji was shocked as he was used to having the advantage with 4WD over his opponents.  
But because this corner wasn't as low speed as the others, his 4WD advantage was ereased and his turbo lag hit him in the face when facing a supercharged car with more torque.  
Unable to match the equal power of the cars all Seiji could do was watch the NSX' taillights on the straights.  
In the corners it was faster than the pace Seiji managed to keep in his Evo 4.

"This is the finish line, the cars just came here and the NSX WON!" the radio report ticked in at the top.

"Hah! Chang hasn't gotten any worse since our last team race. I would expect him to have gotten slower on mountain passes but he is still as fast as ever." Sam said.

"Indeed he is, but I will never forget that day when Chang gave me a ride while it was raining. That is the most SCARY thing I have ever been doing" Koji replied.

"Chang sure is something special, he may be a bit shy when speaking of his skill but when it counts he does know how to drive." Sakura said, as she spoke Sweeper jumped up.

"WHOAH! Don't scare me like that Sakura. Yeah Chang is pretty fast. I battled him for the first time on the highways of Tokyo, however I was lucky that it was dry." Sweeper said/

"Well, it is our turn now Sweeper. Let us show this wannabe proffessional and his so called rally driver what true speed is all about. I am sure that Sainz fellow has taught Sudou a few tricks." Carlos said as he put a hand on Sweeper's shoulder.

"Whatever he taught him it is not going to work against us. Speaking of which, we got something to settle as well I think, this even has overlapped one of our regular meetings you know." Sweeper replied while giving Carlos a certain look.

"I know what you mean, we usually do it in the states but I suppose a touge like this and our current cars will have to do. It should be very interresting." Carlos replied and the two walked towards their cars.

----------------------------

**Authors notes: Here is my most recent chapters, sorry for any spelling errors but I am currently in Spain and I lack something else than WordPad to write on but to keep time passing for me I will finish this story.  
Hopefully this story will be complete before the 31st of May, since thats when I am going back home to Norway again and I will get back to PROPER spelling ;)**


	22. Chapter 22: Best friends, best rivals

The night was perfect for the special opening race for the Gunma area, even though they were outside the Gunma perfecture at the moment most of the important racers from Gunma had gathered at Irohazaka.  
The first official 3 car battle with 2 teams, for Kyoichi it was going to be easy as all he had to do would be to finish 2nd or 1st to win the race.  
Koji, Sam and Sakura had gathered around Keiichi and Jane to ask them a few questions while Carlos and Sweeper were lining up for the start.

"Why are you doing this race in such disadvantageous way?" Koji asked Jane and Keiichi.

For once Keiichi wasn't worried but he was actually quite confident about the result.  
Jane and Keiichi had witnessed the special way that Carlos and Sweeper drove.

"These two are fast on their own and they are in fact the worlds best and the worlds 2nd best drivers. If you are looking for the best you can get then those two cannot be ignored. However, their true speed lies in their rivalry." Keiichi started.

"Ever since Sweeper beat Carlos, those two have been fierce rivals running in close in any kind of battles. They are like magnets, they keep attracting each other up to a dangerously high pace in a stride to better the other one. Their rivalry is so strong that they even manage to drag out the extra potential they themselves do not know of, they may be hard to beat when they are driving on their own, but together they are unstopable." Jane continiued.

"For once I see no way for Sudou to stand a chance." Keiichi said with confidence.

"That is true, the other part of their speed that will make this more interresting is that have some months of the year when they pick a town in the US to race in and those two meet up. At those times it is all out to find out if the other has gotten more skilled. The loser usually goes home to work further on his technique and car for the next showdown. And this month is usually one of the months they have such a meeting." Jane said.

Satake did the countdown and the three cars did the start, since all of the machines were equipped with 4WD the start was intense and brute.  
Sudou had picked the center position so he could observe Sweeper from behind and keep Carlos in check.  
For Kyoichi that was an advantageous position and would allow him to pick a moment for a counter attack on Sweeper.  
But that was not going to be easy, even Kyoichi's misfiring system and turbo could match the response and engine power of Sweeper's NA 4 rotor.  
And that GT-R was not showing any signs of letting up in fact it was charging in with late and deep braking.  
Carlos wasn't the type to give up, besides Kyoichi was just a moving barricade in the road to Carlos, his true target was the leading blue FD.

"Is that all you got? I thought the rally driver gave you some useful tips in driving fast." Carlos muttered as they dived into another corner and Carlos saw the flames from Sudou's exhaust.

In the lead Sweeper were calm and were driving at a slightly slower pace to not waste all of the tires grip this early in the race.  
But that was the only reason Sweeper tried to tell himself, the true reason was that he was waiting for the R34 to catch up.  
Sudou begun pushing it a bit harder, making it more difficult for Carlos to keep up on corner entry due to weight difference between the cars.  
Carlos had spent a lot of time making his 34 lighter but due to the body size and various components it was difficult to get close to 1200 Kg's without ripping out the entire interior something that wasn't a good idea for a car to also drive on the street.  
Sweeper had found different ways to make his interior lighter but still try to keep a somewhat streetable look, Carlos hadn't gotten that far yet.

On corner exit the situation was different for Kyoichi, he was having trouble keeping the distance he had gained during entry, the R34 had more traction and response than his EVO 3.

"I have raced a lot of GT-R's in my past, I guess it was true what my friend told me. That really is who they call God Skyline, he really knows how to drive such a fat body heavyweight and wedge it in and out of most situations." Sudou thought as he dived into the next corner of the snake like downhill course.

Sudou went into another corner with a braking drift as there was little space to use grip driving for acceleration. He noticed that the GT-R did the same thing and came out with rocket like acceleration.  
To Sudou's surprise the GT-R came up on his right side and were running side by side into the corner.  
Sudou saw the next corner come and slammed on the brakes, however the 34 showed no signs of braking at all.  
When Sudou finally saw Carlos light up the braking lines the went into the corner at full speed and the rear came loose.  
Carlos was going into a blocking drift to keep Sudou pinned down, giving him time to compensate for the heavyness of the GT-R and use his favourite weapon on corner exit.  
As the R34 straightened out the Evo 3 came up close it was going to be a mad dash at the corner exit, however it was all favouring the GT-R with engine power, response and traction.

"I'll show you WHY they call my car the TRACTION MONSTER! Mr Rally driver." Carlos shouted out as he slammed on the gas pedal.

The GT-R was like it was sucking itself onto the road surface and its acceleration was intense compared to Sudou's.  
As the GT-R started putting a few car lenghths upon Sudou the real battle was about to get started.  
To Carlos, Sudou had been the warmup, now it was time for the TRUE showdown.

The R34 came up on Sweeper's rear end and Sweeper finally went full throttle and all out with Carlos chasing.  
In Sudou's eyes all he saw was two cars doing twin drifts through the corners at amazing speeds and weird lines.  
At some places they even did the jumps on each other with only a centimetres margin, the two drivers were really having a showdown.

"My FD is lighter and faster on the downhill, I need to put as much distance between me and Carlos as possible before the 3 bridges section. If I don't have a good lead on Carlos by then, I won't stand a chance to win." Sweeper thought and was trying to increase the pace by doing the jumps on all the corners and take the tires to the limit.

Carlos were copying at his best of abillity, he didn't care that the GT-R was heavier, it was as if he couldn't feel it at the moment even though Sweeper and Carlos's points of braking and acceleration told a different story.  
A story that Jane and Keiichi were viewing live at the laptop.

"It seems like we were correct on our theory about how they can achieve their magnificent equal performance." Jane said pointing at the different points in the curves and where the points were on the map.

"Yes, even though Carlos is slower during the corner itself he is a lot harder on exit acceleration and that's where he cuts down Sweeper's lead drastically. Two different cars that performs so equally with two whacky drivers. That is a World Cup exclusive!" Keiichi said enthusiastically.

"What about Sudou Kyoichi?" Sakura asked Jane.

"Well, he is being left behind, for every corner those two in front clears Sudou gets left behind. Those two are pushing their cars to the limit, if there is a FD and GT-R with drivers that can run like this then I will be extremly impressed. I suppose the nicknames they got are true after all, God Skyline and God Rotary." Jane said while clearly showing that she was impressed.

"Doesn't matter how many times you see them drive, you can get passed and see them drive like this a thousand times and still not get tired of seeing it. Those two are something special when it comes to racing." McClintock said.

The GT-R was losing some ground to the FD but it wasn't a whole lot but it could be noticed after two corners.  
Carlos was having some issues matching Sweeper's cornering but it was still fairly close.  
At the end of the snake corners on the downhill, Sweeper was still leading with Carlos only a few seconds behind, now it was all going to hang out.  
Sweeper went full throttle and kept the pedal to the floor to outrun Carlos, however this part of the course was GT-R territory and was perfect for cars that had lots of power.  
And that ment for turbo powered cars and not NA machines like the one Sweeper drove.  
Carlos was quickly closing in the gap and even the jump over the bridge the GT-R was coming fast from behind.

"This is so like Carlos, high powered GT-R armed with traction... In the beginning it was hard to match but now at least I got the same traction as you, but not the same power." Sweeper thought as he looked in the rear view mirror.

Sweeper was rememembering the earlier battles with Carlos, the battles were Carlos were allways grinning on corner exit due to the extreme traction that the ATTESA ET-S provided.  
That was something that made Sweeper study Nissan's ATTESA system in detail as well as doing something unorthodox that he later hid in a warehouse at the docks in Istanbul.  
In the end Sweeper figured out the secret behind the ATTESA ET-S and begun with drawings and calculations for making his own computer controlled differential.  
The early models that Sweeper spent money on having made according to plans had lots of faults either being too much rear wheel drive or giving too much torque steer.  
But in the end Sweeper got it right and made his FD 4WD, the only RX-7 to ever see a future as a 4 rotor 4 wheel drive machine, a machine that was engineered to be superior to a GT-R in any way possible.

Nevertheless Carlos didn't do nothing to respond to the new threat that Sweeper came with and started doing some serious modifications to his GT-R putting it in the same class as Sweeper's FD.  
In a regular track race these kind of machines would have been banned as soon as they showed up, but they were totally legal for the World Cup's GT-Unlimited class.  
A few other racers had tried 4WD conversions to respond to Carlos and Sweeper in the GT-U class but they had abandoned it after encountering high expenses, weight issues and of course getting the same performance.

"There is no way I am going to let up now Carlos, for old times sake I will give you the battle we have been thirsting for so long!" Sweeper said softly to himself as they were about to enter the narrow section.

Carlos finally caught up to Sweeper and got up on his right side and threw a look over at Sweeper.  
Sweeper looked back at Carlos, they both knew it was time to settle the duel, at least for this time around.

"Woah the GT-R is side by side with the FD and the road is narrowing down! Neither is showing any signs of letting off, who will it be?" The radio report ticked in at the top.

"Both are crazy enough to do it, but I doubt Carlos will back out of it a 2nd time like he did with that highway ramp 10 months ago in Los Angeles." McClintock spoke softly as he was perhaps the only GT-R driver that could understand them both.

Sweeper's thoughts went over it a few times before he moved his right foot off the gas pedal and onto the brake.  
Carlos was clearly surprised as the FD slowed down letting Carlos take the lead, instinctively Carlos steered in front of the FD and the two crossed the finish line slightly after that.  
As soon as the two cars had stopped Carlos jumped out of his GT-R and ran towards Sweeper cursing in spanish.  
Sweeper got out of his FD and saw Carlos come running towards him.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU BRAKE?" Carlos shouted out clearly in anger.

"You wanted a double crash?" Sweeper asked as a rethorical question that Carlos obviously didn't understand.

"Yes rather a double crash than something as stupid as this! It was a perfect match up to the point where you slammed on the brakes. I have never had so much excited in my entire racing career, but no, you had to ruin it all in the end! Why did you brake there? It is not like you at all, the real Sweeper would NEVER have slammed on the brakes." Carlos was still clearly angry.

"I had something else to think about and I misplaced my foot on the brakes." Sweeper said in an attempt to comfort Carlos.

"That is neither like you at all, I have seen your pedals there is no way you could have done something like that, but this we will have to bring up at some other time!" Carlos turned around and walked away still mumbling in spanish.

But Sweeper had his reasons for braking and even though he didn't like it he still did it.  
Sweeper then looked at his hands for a moment while opening and closing his fists.

"Are these really the hands that have taken several thousand lives? Damn I must be getting soft or something like that, must be the age or whatever." Sweeper mumbled as he got into his FD to head uphill again following Carlos' GT-R.

Kyoichi showed up fairly late at the finish line and only had time to turn around and head uphill again after the two Project S aces.  
But even Sudou was surprised, these guys was indeed faster both car wise and driver wise, wherever they had learned their techniques it was certainly not from Todou school.  
But it was clear that they were the best of friends as well as the best of rivals.  
Very different from Kyoichi and Ryosuke, but then again they were quite different in skill as well, Ryosuke was more skilled than Kyoichi but Kyoichi had superior machine.  
The cars arrived at the top of the mountain and the results was clear on who had won the race and who the loser were.  
Jane turned towards Carlos and Sweeper and asked them a question.

"Who won of you two this time?"

"Well that would be..." Sweeper started but were interrupted.

"Actually it was more like a tie, I will not accept anything else Sweeper." Carlos said.

"Sounds like you two disagree on that matter. Oh well we bagged another victory, better get ready for next weekend then, we will be going to Akagi and do our first battle with Project D, the showdown is beginning" Jane said.


	23. Chapter 23: The big bet

The next weekend arrived and the racers had already been chosen up front but they still brought all 4 cars on a trailer to Akagi.  
If not it was a showoff of the products used in the tuning and buildup of the cars they had been using, and the race at Akagi had attracted very big gallery's from all over Japan.  
The biggest street race of all time was going to happen, the foreign challengers were going up against the uphill ace of Project D, Takahashi Keisuke.

The trucks rolled in at the bottom of the pass for the uphill race, Project D had already gathered with three familiar cars, a yellow FD, a white FC and a black and white panda Trueno.  
As soon as Sweeper and the rest of the drivers got off the bus Takahashi Keisuke was there to greet them.

"So it is finally time for the race Keisuke, the bet is still on you know." Sweeper said as he greeted Keisuke.

"Of course I know that!" Keisuke replied sharply.

"Just remember if you lose you will have to give Kyoko a proper date and if she still wants you, you will have to accept it and no jellyfish attitude here." Sweeper said.

"I remember the terms of the deal Sweeper, just get your FD ready to race." Keisuke replied.

"Not to be too much of a party crusher here but racing me is not a good idea; you wouldn't stand a chance to keep up with me. So I am going to make it slightly easier for you this time around, besides I never said that you and I were going to race now did I? I have already beaten you two times already." Sweeper commented.

"So who will be my opponent then?" Keisuke asked.

"That will be me and my R34 GT-R." Carlos shot into the discussion.

"This is Carlos Gonzales, but please just call him Carlos even though he is known under several names." Sweeper said.

"You paired me with a GT-R driver? I was hoping for you to give me a chance for a rematch" Keisuke said.

"That will not happen just yet Keisuke, you are still not on par with me, Carlos is currently nr 2 on the World Cup board and judging from that he is supposed to be slightly slower than me. But I am giving you another chance, there will be a cone at the top of the pass where you two will make a spin turn and head downhill to finish the battle. A side by side start where the one that gets up and down again first wins the race." Sweeper explained.

"Interesting terms that I will gladly accept." Keisuke said.

"Let us hope you get to see why they call Carlos Speedy Gonzales or God Skyline, he is not going to disappoint you tonight..." Sweeper stopped speaking and ended in a smile as he saw Carlos grin as well.

"Whatever, let us just get this battle over with it, I don't understand why you are going all out without practicing on the course but that is none of my concern" Keisuke said.

Carlos had during the week copied Sweeper's approach and done a few practice laps as well as watching course recordings from Akagi so he was well prepared.  
But it had been done in secrecy to not have the Takahashi brothers snooping around and snapping up a few hints for the upcoming battle.  
The original plan had been for Sweeper to drive on Akagi against Keisuke but after the bet had been made, Sweeper had asked Carlos to drive instead due to a few reasons Sweeper had figured out when it came to Keisuke.

Keisuke were ready on the starting line with his FD, the girls were of course overjoyed to see Keisuke as they usually were but Keisuke also noticed a certain girl sitting on the hood of her black FD waving at Keisuke.  
That was Iwase Kyoko that had arrived to see the battle that was very important for her, for this particular battle she both wanted Keisuke to win and lose at the same time.  
Keisuke on the other hand was filled with slight rage as he saw Kyoko.

"I can definitely not lose this battle tonight, I just cannot do that!" Keisuke said to himself as Carlos' R34 rolled up on his left.

Fumihiro got out on the road and positioned himself between the two cars with a radio in his left hand.

"This is Fumihiro, is it all clear?" Fumihiro asked over the radio and waited for the stations to report back.

"All clear here"  
"Ok you can start at anytime"  
"We are currently moving some of the gallery but we will be done in time"  
"This is the top, all clear around the cone, you are all green for start!"

"I am counting down!" Fumihiro shouted out.

Carlos and Keisuke started up their cars and begun revving.

"5"  
"4"  
"3"  
"2"  
"1"  
"GO!"

The two cars did a rocket start with Carlos snapping the lead early clearly showing that 4WD was superior at the starting line.  
Spectators at the start was shocked as they witnessed the R34 take off with the FD chasing it.

"4WD really has the advantage at the starting line!" Shingo said to Takeshi Nakazato.

"His car is definitely faster than my 32!" Nakazato replied to Shingo.

"Hey Takeshi, don't stand so close, those who don't know us might think we are friends." Shingo said.

"Yeah, this time we are not alone" Nakazato replied as the girls and a few other star drivers had crowded around them eagerly awaiting the outcome of the race.

Sweeper on the other hand were looking at the FD keys with the attached new Mazda logo as well as a rotor keyring that he had purchased when he bought a few rebuild kits from Atkins Rotary.  
His thoughts were wandering off to his blue FD, if Carlos failed to prevail this would probably be the last drive he would ever get in that FD.  
But then again he felt strange that he somewhat didn't feel all too lost around losing his FD, it was as if his feelings were neutral around losing his car for some reason.  
Just then Sakura came walking towards him and Sweeper quickly put the car keys in the pocket of his jacket.

"Hello Sakura, what brings you out here tonight?" Sweeper asked while doing an attempt at diverting Sakura's attention from the weird look on his face when he was fiddling with the car keys.

But Sweeper had failed at doing that, Sakura had noticed it as she had been observing him for a while.  
And Chang had told her about the bet that Sweeper had made with Takahashi Keisuke.

"Not an easy night for you is it?" Sakura started.

"What do you mean? It is great tonight and the next weekend will be the final weekend and my final race under the Project S name, it has been great so far." Sweeper were desperately trying to change subject.

"I know why you were having that look on those keys for your car." Sakura said with no regards for Sweeper's attempts to change topic.

"Aw damn, it was that obvious now was it? I must really be growing soft lately." Sweeper said while bringing out his FD keys.

"Well don't worry about it, should you lose that FD I will help you get another one, I have a few car contacts that should be able to help you get a new car of your choice. But then again I doubt that Carlos will lose, from the friendship between you two that FD means as much to him as it means to you. If he loses he basically will have to resign as well because racing will not be the same without you around." Sakura said.

"That is not my main worry, I know how far Carlos is willing to go and that scares me a bit. But what worries me is that I don't seem to be feeling a fear for losing it that I had a week ago. It is as if it is ok to lose the FD that I have spent a several years with, and yes we are RX-7 owners are sentimental when it comes to our cars." Sweeper said.

At the start of the course there were longer straights and it was fairly easy driving for Carlos and Keisuke quickly faded in the rear view due to the insane power difference.  
A GT-R would be a tough car to match for Keisuke, tougher than God Foot's machine due to the power and response difference.  
But then again, Keisuke had a fear of bounding with Kyoko, if he lost this race he wouldn't have much of a choice but to accept the conditions of the bet.

"This is so damn American, but what else can you expect of an American driver like that Sweeper fellow?" Keisuke thought as he shifted up and dived into the next corner.

Carlos on the contrary to Keisuke was taking it easy in corners doing early braking and not pushing the limit, but Carlos didn't save on the engine power upon corner exit with the traction and response of his GT-R.  
To Carlos this match felt like a breeze and that it wasn't going to pose any problems for him.

"I don't get why you bothered teaching this kid some new driving techniques Sweeper, he is driving a slow FD and hardly has anything going for him at all." Carlos thought as his GT-R entered the more tight corner section of Akagi.

Carlos continued braking early until he looked in his rear view and saw the yellow FD beginning to catch up to his GT-R.

"What the? You can actually keep up eh? Well now I can start getting serious about you." Carlos thought.

At the next corner Carlos had begun racing and were braking right on the dot because now it was time to give Keisuke a challenge.  
A challenge that would make this match worth Carlos' time.  
Keisuke noticed that Carlos' pace had increased and that the FD was starting to have problems matching the pure brute traction of the GT-R.

"This GT-R driver really knows how to drive! It is almost like watching Sweeper's FD blast off through corners." Keisuke thought.

Carlos tried to pull away from Keisuke but at the last half of the course his power card was flawed and that allowed Keisuke to get closer again.  
But even so Carlos was far from worried about the outcome, his plan had been hatched earlier and Keisuke had been proven worthy.

"This is the top! The two cars are coming around the corner now, I can their headlights, the GT-R is leading with Keisuke closely following suit. But Keisuke is unable to gain any more on the 34, here they go, they are diving in with a... TWIN DRIFT AROUND THE CONE! Man they are really serious now, neither is showing any signs of giving up." The radio report ticked in at the bottom of Akagi.

"That boy from Gunma is doing a good job keeping up with that GT-R." Hoshino said to Joushima.

"Indeed he is, compared to your race there are a lot more emotions involved in this battle. Neither of the parties wants to lose tonight as it will have consequences for them." Joushima replied.

Keisuke knew that his best shot for winning this battle would be on the downhill, as the traction of the GT-R wouldn't matter as much as it did on the uphill.  
But contrary to God Foot's R34 this R34 was actually going faster through the corners, that was something Keisuke had failed to pay attention to before now.  
This was not going to be an easy battle for sure, and this time he had to pass the GT-R before the finish line to win, or else he would lose.

Carlos threw another look in the rear view and grinned widely from ear to ear.

"I guess I should keep that promise to Sweeper after all. I am going to go all out on you!" Carlos thought and begun braking and shifting down for the upcoming corner.

The R34 all of a sudden changed driving style and closed as close to the inside guardrail as possible while drifting through the corner with zero counter steering.  
Carlos was in the groove, and in the rhythm to give Keisuke a hard time in terms of speed.

"That GT-R has received weight reduction modifications and with that widebody as well as those tires he will definitely be able to outrun me if this was on a different course than Akagi!" Keisuke thought and followed in with a drift.

The two cars were going through the corners at extreme speeds, moving sideways but the main difference was Carlos"s recovery of speed after a drift.  
Thanks to the ATTESA ET-S the GT-R was capable of keeping a high corner exit speed.  
All that this achieved in Keisuke's eyes was increasing his hate for GT-R's, sure an inexperienced driver could be fast in one, but experienced drivers was the worst you could ever face.  
But Keisuke used his home course advantage and found out that the GT-R was not driving the best line for the tight section of the course.  
And at the next S corner, Keisuke executed his counter attack, snapping the line in front of Carlos and blocking Carlos' path to keep the lead.

"What the hell? You are playing blocking manouvers now? Well, that will not help you!" Carlos thought and continued chasing the yellow RX-7.

Back at the bottom the radio report ticked in:

"This is the S corner, the FD just passed the 34 in an extremely well timed counter attack!"

"Damnit, seems like Keisuke had the edge after all. Must been that tire management trick I taught him." Sweeper said.

"Don't worry have you forgotten Carlos' no lose policy?" Jane shot into the discussion.

"Yeah but how will he get past Keisuke again?" Sweeper asked.

"You are forgetting the easy part of the course, just wait and see at the end." Jane said while smiling.

Carlos knew that this was the point for him to make his move, it was time to settle the match once and for all.  
As the GT-R had up to this point been sticking almost right onto Keisuke's bumper it now made an abrupt and quick lane change followed by intense acceleration.  
The move caught Keisuke completely off guard and was unable to block Carlos' path in time and the 34 quickly came flying up at his left side.

"Just how much power is that big body box of yours packing?" Keisuke said to himself as the 34 came rolling up at his side.

The move was quick thanks to the Mines engine's response and engine power, it was an engine truly worth its weight in gold for the type of power it provided.  
The black R34 quickly snapped the lead and kept on using engine power to pull away from Keisuke, moving sideways through the corners.  
Like Takumi when he was racing Kyoichi, Keisuke was forced to just watch the 34 take off and disappear into the night only allowing him to see the 4 red circles resembling the taillamps disappear into the corner ahead at an intense speed.  
The race was over with a move like that, Carlos had executed his plan perfectly with only some minor mistakes like Keisuke performing the counter attack.

At the starting line two headlights came into view and they were NOT flipups so it was clear that the 34 had won over Keisuke's FD.  
Keisuke on the other hand were only 2-3 seconds behind Carlos on the final sprint to the finish through a long sweeping corner.  
But as GT-R's had their speciality at such corners there was no way Keisuke had any chance to get past the 34 in time to win the race.

A few minutes after crossing the finish line the drivers got out and Carlos shook Keisuke's hand.

"A great race Takahashi Keisuke, and a nicely timed counter attack as well, I didn't see that one coming at all until you were all of a sudden in front of my 34." Carlos said.

"Well I suppose this is how the outcome was supposed to be, I suppose World Cup drivers are indeed the specialists of the street. But you had a very interresting attack using the engine power that was quick and brutal. Not even God Foot managed to do something like that." Keisuke replied.

"Don't worry about that World Cup part, you should apply for GT300 soon and get some proper racing experience with the rest of us. Even though the competition for the events in 2007 are stiffening up greatly with a few new contenders that are eager at taking a shot at us old boys. I suppose it is only fair, just hang in there and when you get to the GT-U class I will give a few driving hints myself." Carlos said while smiling.

Sweeper and Kyoko approached the two chattering.

"Hey Hey Carlos, chatting to the average FD driver eh?" Sweeper asked.

"Heh, I suppose it wouldn't matter when I hang with you now does it?" Carlos replied.

"Not to nag this in Keisuke, but you do remember the bet we had?" Sweeper asked rather softly.

"Of course I do, I lost this battle to a GT-R and have to face the consequences of that. It made me rethink a few things as well and you know what? The shock of having Carlos pass me with that 34 in the sloppy section made me realize that the loss of the bet wasn't so bad after all." Keisuke said.

"I think I understand what you mean with that Keisuke, now if you would excuse me and Carlos I am sure you and Kyoko got a few things to do." Sweeper said before grabbing Carlos and pulling him away from Keisuke.

"Heh, what a great battle, I kind of underestimated that guy at first you know." Carlos said to Sweeper as they walked away from Keisuke and Kyoko.

"I told you he was good now didn't I? Admit it Carlos, you still underestimate FD's!" Sweeper said.

"Well, I may underestimate other FD's a bit but certainly not one certain 98 Type RS." Carlos said while smiling at Sweeper.

Sweeper and Carlos both bursted into laughter remembering parts of their previous discussions on the same subject.  
Just as they were laughing a familiar girl came up to Sweeper while smiling.

"Seems like you are keeping your car like I told you it would happen." Sakura said.

Carlos got the picture quite quickly when Sakura said this.

"Ummm I need to go and check that my GT-R got fuel for something or whatever... I'll leave you two alone." Carlos quickly sprinted away to give Sweeper some time with Sakura.

"Still haven't changed your oppinion?" Sweeper asked.

"OF COURSE NOT you silly rotor head." Sakura said.

"Hey, you want to race over that?" Sweeper asked while smiling.

"Anytime, anyday, anywhere Mr!" Sakura replied.

"I'll book you later then, just use your time to think of the proposal wisely Sakura, just remember that it is not a one shot proposal like a race." Sweeper said and walked away.

"_How long do you think you can stay coldhearted like that? Not for long I think._" Sakura thought as she watched Sweeper run off to his car.

Keiichi was delighted as he called to main sponsors to inform that they finally had bagged a win that was big enough to begin exploiting the newly gained publicity.  
Project S was almost complete and they had been quite successful on their travels, and it was time to prepare the paychecks for the drivers they had been renting for the past few weekends.  
Hiring pro's gets the job done, but it also makes it easy to blow the budget, but in this case it was worth it, beating Project D was going to create a major publicity hit for the WC sponsors.  
But for tonight it was time to pack up and head back and do a nice celebration, with Carlos as the main honor tonight for scoring the main victory, of course Sweeper had been successful although it had no financial importance it was still morally important to the team and especially Jane.

------------------------------------

**Authors notes: Well now it is almost time for the "Grande finale" people... I estimate 2 or 3 more chapters and Project S is done and complete ready to just collect dust.  
Stay tuned for the final race in this story, it is going to be VERY different from the previous battles.**


	24. Chapter 24: Final checkup

It was Thursday and Sweeper were preparing for the race against the AE86.  
In the past few days Sweeper had been ordering a lot of parts and were busy installing parts on his FD for the upcoming race.  
Carlos had observed him for a few days and now he had gotten curious to what Sweeper was really doing.

"What are you doing Sweeper?" Carlos asked.

"Currently I have swapped the servo gears for the steering and I have replaced the fog lamps. I also went for a hunt for the perfect tires in the lower tire dimensions that Jane recommended." Sweeper said.

"Swapping servo gears? Why did you do that for this race?" Carlos asked.

"Well, more responsive steering and that means I turn more with less motion on the wheel. It is risky to do so with a car but I will have to take that chance for this weekends battle. And before you ask, those foglights have been replaced with some rather interresting ones." Sweeper said pointing to the box they came in.

"Why do you swap the foglamps? Afraid of some fog coming up and obscurring your view?" Carlos asked.

"They are actually there to comply with something the airforce boys call blackout." Sweeper said with a smile.

"Don't tell me you have gotten a set of those! That is military grade stuff that you have ordered, stuff that should never leave the military and let alone find on the front of a FD like yours!" Carlos said with some admiration in his voice.

"I am a mercenary by profession, so that means that I get access to this kind of equipment through certain contacts. I can tell right off the bat that other people like Norio, Kenneth and Keisuke will be unable to purchase them and if they find a kit they will be of very low grade quality. This one is top knotch!" Sweeper said with a smile.

"You are one damn son of a bitch that sure doesn't know how to give up now do you?" Carlos replied in a joking way.

"Indeed I am Carlos, I heard Kenneth had been accepted back into the World Cup and that he is driving the Demon BTR in the GT-U class?" Sweeper asked.

"Yeah, those 2500 HP has made me rethink a few things on my next car, don't tell me you have done so as well?" Carlos asked.

"Let us just say I am going to give that Porsche guy a hard time in both corners and straights, I went over the blueprints for my current 1200 HP 4 rotor and I figured that if I improve the housings I can match his 2500 HP with ease and still go with twin turbo's. I am guessing you are on the same idea?" Sweeper said with a smile.

"Indeed I am, I sent the blueprints of my new 2.6 litre block to the manufacturer yesterday and it should be really interresting to put a new world record in making the most power from a 2.6 litre engine block. Only problem is that I will need to have a new custom cylinder head as well as valves, springs etc. But those were easy to draw up to match the new block's specs since I am staying at 2.6 litres, and you?" Carlos asked.

"Well I need to make a new intake and exhaust manifold as well as having a new turbo made to fit the beast, but making it spool will not be the biggest problem. For me that will be getting traction so I have to really go with wider tires this time and probably redesign the rear wheelarchs of my car to incorporate this new rubber. Nevertheless I am sure that Kenneth will find that his new car is outcompeted by the old boys in the World Cup." Sweeper replied with a smile.

"Old boys got a title to defend, but Kenneth is just the tip of the iceberg of newcomers. We got a common disliked fellow as well, Norio Takeshi. That guy got a lot of stocks in Toyota recently and since that's where his money and support comes from he actually ran off with the ONLY road going version of the Toyota GT-One! Can you believe that? I hoped Toyota would stick to it but I suppose Norio had a crushing argument in for it." Carlos said slightly annoyed.

"A guy in the GT-U that is fast and will definitly not hesitate tapping your tail... If Kenneth isn't careful that son of a bitch will make him go spin happy in the first corner, the worst part is that Norio is an expert at that move. And pro's that are unfamiliar with it will not expect a RWD car to be used in such moves, and that catches you off guard and when you finally realize the mistake it is too late. I know because he pulled that trick last year on me even though he was driving in the GT500 he tapped my car as I was lapping him." Sweeper said.

"A really nasty trick there, but you paid him back didn't you?" Carlos asked.

"I made him do a lot of 360's when I caught up that was for sure..." Sweeper stopped and begun laughing as he found it funny.

"Well let us show the newcomers that we still hold the title as the worlds best street racers, let us give those rally drivers a few lessons they are not to forget... This is not in their sandbox this is the real thing and what you do in the sandbox doesn't work here." Carlos smiled while Sweeper gave clear signals of agreement.

"You mentioned you went smaller tires on the FD... Why did you do that?" Carlos asked.

"Simple, remember the gutters at Akina? Those are used to increase cornering speed, I lost to an Impreza there because he was able to use the gutter while my tires were too wide to fit into the gutter so I had to go the long and slower way around. I know that AE86 driver will use them so it is actually better for me to go with tires that will fit in there rather than bigger and fatter rubber. I am also going on racing slicks for that battle since it is reported to be pretty dry so I should be having the grip advantage." Sweeper said while pointing at the tires.

"These are 280mm tires compared to your usual 360's it is very tiny." Carlos said while looking at the smaller tires at the FD.

"Jane didn't recommend any size over 280 so I went out hunting for tires of that size. Believe me it was hard to find but I got a few sets of them when I first were shopping for them." Sweeper said.

"You also seem to have gotten some changes to the suspension?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah I went with a softer front and stiffer rear setup..." Sweeper started but was interrupted by Carlos.

"WHAT! That is understeer settings, why do you want to go with understeer?" Carlos asked.

"I am going to go all out, I am going to use a special technique tonight and it will be very difficult if I hadn't changed the suspension setup. I think you have seen me use it at a few corners in the World Cup." Sweeper said with a smile.

"Oh hell no! Not that technique, the fruits of your hunt for that special driving technique." Carlos clearly knew what Sweeper had in the mind.

"Yes the very same you saw me use at Laguna Seca's first corner a year ago." Sweeper said with a smile.

"I understand what you mean with going all out, that kind of move is damn hard to match even when running on the tires you have here. That Eight-Six is not going to get an easy match on his hands if you are playing it like this." Carlos said while shaking his head.

"Me and Jane went through all the battle summaries with the AE86 and Ryo came over providing me with the details he had observed on the Eight-Six and its driver. In summary this car is currently the results of a winning strategy so to speak. Everything from tires to cockpit and wire systems have been made with only thing in mind, and that is beating Akina HACHI-ROKU!" Sweeper said with emphasis on hachi-roku.

It was now set for the upcoming weekend, the FD's set up and tune up was all complete and prepared for the battle with the AE86.  
For Sweeper it was going to be a tough battle, especially since he still hadn't forgotten Sakura or the Impreza blowing past him.  
He also knew that Ryo was counting on Sweeper beating the 86 from Akina, and Ryo had failed in doing so with a full blooded racing car, it was now up to the best of the world to try and take Akina Hachi-Roku down.

-----------------------------

**Authors notes: Been a lot of these notes lately but now I think there will only be 2 more chapters and this story is wrapped up.  
This short chapter was just to show the modifications done for the race with Akina´s 86 and the real deal is coming soon, hopefully it will be up in 2 days.**


	25. Chapter 25: The Grand Finale

Even more people had gathered at Akina for the legendary race in street racing history.  
Project S' best downhill ace vs Project D's downhill ace on their homeground it was not going to be a sloppy match.  
The course had lots of famous points and the galleries were packed to the breaching point as two of the currently most famous street racing teams in Japan were finally going to have their clash and final battle to settle it all.  
The setting was very tense as there were supporters for both sides, and of course some people had feelings for both.  
Some wanted to see the AE86 beaten but at the same time didn't want it to be beaten at all, Takahashi Keisuke was one of these people as they had found a nice observation point with Kyoko.  
Amongst them all there was a certain red Supra that caught Sweeper's eye, and the driver was obviously here to observe for future battles as Sweeper recognized him leaning on his car.  
It was an old russian rival of Sweeper from his world tour in the FD, Krugov and his red MK4 Toyota Supra with its 650 horsepower.  
He was just as fast as he had a short temper, a combination that could quickly become dangerous for the opponent, and he still hadn't forgotten that FD pulling away from him.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Sweeper asked Carlos pointing at Krugov.

"I don't know but I bet my car on that he is here to see you drive, this battle is special after all Sweeper, you know that a lot of people have gathered from out of town, heck some has even come from out of country." Carlos said with a smile and pointed at a Toyota Vitz/Yaris pulling up and a familiar face popping out of the car.

"Miguel? I thought you were in the US at this time? And where is your BMW M3 GTR?" Sweeper asked the person in the Yaris.

"Heh it is expensive bringing it over here you know and it wasn't worth it to just watch you duke it out tonight. So I got this rental car instead, it is not fast or good in corners but it gets you from A to B." Miguel said with a smile.

As Sweeper continiued looking around he saw several familiar faces that was not Japanese.  
Harry Bang a norwegian Dodge Viper driver in the GT1000 class, he was not the fastest be he did still compete.  
Clint West the american rival to Harry who drove a RR Porsche 911 and were also competing in the GT1000, often the two got into fights, however they had yet to see each other at Akina.  
But in the Japanese crowd there were two familiar faces that stood out and that was because other racers greatly dispised them and their team.  
It was Norio Takeshi and Sinjo with their respective team, known for their dirty racing and sabotage.  
And of course the regular crazy girl better known as Sakura Tanaka who just walked up to Sweeper and greeted him in a friendly way.

"Hello Sweeper-kun, how are you feeling tonight?" Sakura asked.

"Did my ears hear it correctly? Did she just add KUN to my nickname? I am fine thank you Sakura, please tell me your answer after the race not before." Sweeper said while trying to appear as cold as possible.

"Whatever tactic you are trying to play Sweeper-kun it will not work the way you hope to... You are as transparent as glass so don't think you can hide something." Sakura said and blinked her right eye before she walked away.

"Women trouble eh brother?" Miguel asked.

"Indeed Miguel, I am not sure what to do about that yet... Oh well let's focus on the race first." Sweeper replied.

"What was up with that kun thingy?" Carlos asked.

"Well, kun is a honor prefix to your name like the san part is. However san is only meaning mr/mrs/miss nothing more, however kun is a bit more... Well how can I properly phrase it, it is more on a loving side of things, something you use about your boyfriend for a girl. So you can see why I am a bit worried." Sweeper said.

"Ouch Sweeper, well should you need to disappear for a while just let me know and I will take you away in my Skyline GT-R, there is no way she can keep up with me you know." Carlos said.

"Heh, we ain't quite there yet, but that girl is crazy." Sweeper replied.

Just then Keiichi came running up with Jane towards Sweeper.

"Hey Sweeper, it is your show now, get in the car and get up to the starting grid the 86 has just arrived and we are only awaiting you to start the race." Keiichi said.

"I will be there soon." Sweeper said.

"Good luck out there Sweeper, show them how it is supposed to be done." Miguel said.

"Let us just hope I will not have to blackout tonight." Sweeper replied to Miguel.

"Whatever Sweeper, good luck out there tonight... It is going to be great fun I hope." Carlos said with a smile.

The two moved away from the FD and Sweeper got in and started it up.  
Shifting it into reverse and driving towards the starting line, it was time for the big race of all time to go down.  
The FD rolled up next to the 86 and stopped at the starting line as Fumihiro were guiding it forward.

Outside the others view Carlos went over to his R34 and entered it and checked the exit lane from the parking lot, he was all set.

"All points are clear! I am counting down. 5 seconds till start!" Fumihiro shouted out and the two cars begun revving.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!" As Fumihiro's arms went down the two cars launched with the FD using its 4WD system to snap the lead off the line.

As the two cars begun picking up speed after the start a R34 fired up its engine and begun revving before launching hard after the 86.  
Keiichi and Jane quickly saw that Carlos had set out to the course.

"DAMNIT Carlos drag launched his car, he is going to mix into the battle?" Keiichi asked.

"No, I don't think that is his plan, I think he wants to see if the 86 driver is as good as we have all made out. He gave a signals around that ever since we started talking about it. Also I think he wants to see with his own eyes that Sweeper loses or wins rather than just hearing it. You know what they say, best of rivals, best of friends when it comes to those two." Jane said.

The rest of the crowd were shocked as they saw the 34 take after the 86 a lot of people recognized it as Carlos' GT-R as his car was known as the bitter rival of Sweeper.

The FD quickly faded away at the straight after the start while Carlos remained behind the AE86.  
Sweeper looked in the rear view and saw the headlights of the 86 disappear due to raw traction and power difference.

"I would love to stay behind and have a true battle with you, but I am not going to underestimate you tonight and I am going all out." Sweeper thought and kept his foot planted on the gas pedal.

At the first corner Sweeper braked hard and dived in with grip driving, going full traction on corner exit using the 4WD's strengths.  
The FD was made for this battle and was capable of good cornering speeds, but Sweeper refrained from going 100 to save his tires for the later half of the race.  
If he had been running on the normal tires he would have been pushing a lot harder than he did now.  
But for now that pace was enough to keep the AE86 at a distance.

Carlos on the other hand got a shock as he braked and saw the AE86 dive into a corner at an insane speed followed by pretty intense exit.  
The R34 managed to keep pace but Carlos allready understood why the 86 was fast.

"This guy... Man he is faster than I ever thought he could but. I hope I can get to stick with him for a while longer." Carlos thought as he kept his 34 in close pursuit.

Sweeper kept onto the lead through several corners but now he noticed that he had to start braking more than he did earlier.

"This is where it will begin, the true battle of the downhill! Shorter straights to use my power on and a lot more corners also limiting sections where I can make some dashes for the lead. Also it is turning into more downhill driving meaning that my power advantage is further shortened. But nevertheless I should still have the advantage at some points." Sweeper's mind was racing through a lot of thoughts at this moment but still maintained a firm hold and control of his FD.

The FD pulled through another corner and begun accelerating hard on the short straight and that was when Sweeper caught a detail in the rearview mirror.  
The guardrail in the corner behind him was being lighted up, which was a clear sign of the opponent chasing him down, and he was a lot closer now.

"I understand what you went through now Ryo... I totally understand it but then again this battle isn't over yet, it is HARDLY started yet either." Sweeper thought and started grinning as he dived into the corner ahead.

Despite the Eight-Six catching up, Sweeper didn't change his pace in an attempt to outrun it, he knew that was useless and stupid at least at this moment.  
The entire situation had to follow the simulation down to every last detail, the lead from the start the pace through the corners, everything had been planned up front.  
Jane and Keiichi had spent the entire night cracking at simulations with Ryo providing a lot of required details on the 86, in the morning they had given Sweeper written instructions on how to handle the race.  
All he had to do was memorize them and follow them, although the strategy was similar to something that Sweeper would have cooked up if he had to do it.  
But there were a few missing details that Keiichi and Jane had missed, one was Sweeper's newly added secret weapon that only 3 people knew of.  
Other detail was some details surrounding Sweeper's driving skill, Sweeper had left it out on purpose to not give Keiichi and Jane too much of a bother that night, since he knew they wouldn't change a thing of the simulation anyways.

Sweeper's secret weapon would be ultimate weapon and the only thing helping him counter Fujiwara Takumi's blind attack.  
A weapon that noone had seen in action before, mainly because none of them had connections to get it like Sweeper had, some had thought of using nightvision once but the lack of light to amplify at a mountain pass made such devices useless.  
UV goggles were useless for the very same reason as you weren't hunting for heat sources and even if you were you would be unable to see the guardrails or the road properly so they had very limited usefullness.  
As Sweeper looked in the passenger seat at the box he couldn't help but smile at the item lying in there, he just had to wait until the right moment.

In the meantime the AE86 had caught up to the FD and Sweeper noticed it was not alone.

"What the... 34 headlights? CARLOS you damn sleeky bastard!" Sweeper said out loud instead of thinking it.

The 86 made its move, it turned off its headlights and disappeared from view, Carlos was clearly shocked as he observed the 86 dive for the inside past Sweeper's FD and drop its tires into the gutter.  
Sweeper saw the 86 come passing him at the inside but he didn't look shocked at all, all Sweeper did was wait for the clipping point of the corner and the 86 to let go off the gutter and begin to make its move for the outside.  
As the eight-six made its accleration move away from the gutter Sweeper grinned, it was time for a counter attack on the counter attack.  
The FD accelerated hard with the 4WD system shifting torque to the front wheels quickly picking up speed and heading towards the 5 sequential hairpins.  
Takumi was clearly shocked of the FD's quick pickup of speed and it only helped to further rub in his 4WD complex.  
The blue RX-7 snapped the lead from the 86 and dived into the next corner a bit faster than what it had done earlier.

"If that's the way you want to play then you leave me no choice" Takumi thought and switched off his headlights as he caught up to the FD.

Sweeper on the other threw a look in the rearview only to see Carlos backing off, probably of the shock, but the 86 was gone.

"Blind attack eh? Time to BLACKOUT" Sweeper grinned and pulled the item out of the box and quickly placed the goggles on his head and flipped them down in front of his eyes.

Then reaching for the light switch and turning of the main headlamps and leave the foglights on, it was now time for the move that Sweeper had planned.  
The FD went black and disappeared like the 86 but the lack of light didn't stop Sweeper, he still was capable of seeing the road and tarmac as he was preparing for a gutter run.

At the bottom of the mountain the spectators were in an uproar.

"The two cars just DISAPPEARED?" One of them asked.

"Idiot, it is the blind attack that 86 used against that pro racing driver!" The other replied.

Jane and Keiichi were completly stunned as the radio report of the two cars going black arrived.

"This is insane! No lights means that you will crash for SURE!" Keiichi was getting worried again.

"No need to worry, I think I know what Sweeper is doing." Miguel spoke out.

"What the hell do you mean?" Jane asked.

"Sweeper mentioned one thing before he went off, that was blackout, certainly not referring to mind black out it is more like going all dark in either a plane or car to remain hidden in the dark." Miguel said with a smile.

"But that means they are running with their lights off and they cannot see the road. When driving your sight does up for more than 95 of your sensing of driving. Just how can you drive without your vision?" Keiichi asked.

"Simple answer is, you cannot. But I bet my botom dollar that Sweeper has found a way around that. You see airforce and military operatives that practices this technique illuminates the area they are moving through with infrared light. Light that is invisible to the regular eye but for someone with the proper equipment you would be capable of seeing the road although it will be in black and white you will still see a clear nice picture of it. Thing is that this kind of technology is in the military hands and is not distributed amongst civillians. Those few kits you find are expensive and have several faults compared to their military counterparts. But I think Sweeper bagged a military kit to use instead of the regular crappy rare civillian ones." Miguel said and Jane and Keiichi were clearly shocked.

At the next hairpin corner the FD braked late and dived into the gutter, the AE86 missed its ideal braking point and Takumi had to turn on his headlights again to recover and dive away from the guardrail that was coming up fast.  
The FD were unhooking from the gutter at a great speed on corner exit, it was now time to go all out and attempt to shake off the 86.  
Sweeper was now driving seriously grabbing the gutter in every corner to keep the pace as high as possible.  
But the 86 was not giving up either, it was chasing at wide open throttle but unable to close in the gap that the FD had gotten from blacking out earlier on.  
The counter attack to Takumi's blind attack was certainly something new to him and was something he would never expect and even now the RX-7 was driving with its headlights turned off.

"Just how can he see and navigate the course like that?" Takumi pondered as he unhooked the last gutter out of the 3rd hairpin.

The FD picked up the pace even more and begun putting a lot of distance to the 86 quickly as the new plan was taking effect and it was clear that Jane and Keiichi hadn't spent the entire night for nothing.  
All the maths that Keiichi had been cracking on lines and what Jane had spent looking over the dyno sheets all matched up carefully, the two supervisors who had their own specialized field came together and made sure it all matched up.  
The 86 disappared for a while and Sweeper's mind begun thinking a few thoughts.

"I can defeat Akina's 86, I can succeed were Ryo and the others failed... But the question is, do I really want to do this?" Sweeper thought as he kept accelerating down the short straight and the finish line was closing up fast.

"He did show a few threats of that Impreza driver that beat me but he is a lot slower than that guy. If I decide to finish this I will crush a good legend that is in the making..." Sweeper could not get his mind of those thoughts.

"But how can I do it? I cannot lose because that would be hurting a lot of friends... There is only one way to end this!" Sweeper saw the next corner come up and he took several deep breaths while bracing himself of what was to come.

The next motion was shifting the second shifter out of AWD mode and into FR to disengage the front differentials and put all the power to the rear wheels.  
And then it would be clear why running 600 HP machines on the passes would be a bad thing.  
Sweeper jammed on the brakes and slowed down quickly before commencing the turn into a drift as he had planned.  
He had 5 corners to make the trick and it would allready become clear what the problem was as Sweeper stepped on the gas a little harder than what he usually did, the rear begun to move out forcing Sweeper to countersteer more.  
The move gave the galleries a shock as Sweeper struggeled to recover the rear end at the corner exit, the 4 rotor was not nice with releasing power gently.  
At the next corner Sweeper repeated the move but this time the rear moved close to a 60 degree angle on the exit almost a clear sign of a beginning drifter or deadly worn out rear tires.  
The 3rd corner would be where it would happen according to the plan.

Sweeper braked hard and begun the drift into the corner shifting the weight hard and slamming on the power causing the inevitable to happen.  
The FD swapped ends and went into a massive 360 degree spinout down the straight as Sweeper struggled to avoid hitting the guardrails, the car did 2 360's before Sweeper managed to straighten it out and the 86 caught up to the cloud of smoke on the corner exit.  
As the 86 rocketed into the lead the FD followed in pursuit and now they were running side by side through the last few corners and on the final straight the FD didn't seem to outaccelerate the 86 at all.  
The two crossed the finish line side by side and braked to complete the race.

As the two drivers got out they saw another car come chasing behind them screeching to a halt and a rather annoyed mexican getting out.

"I want your explaination on this Sweeper, that smoke cloud was YOURS!" Carlos started as he moved towards Sweeper.

"Well my front differentials broke so I all of a sudden got rear wheel drive and it took me a few corners in an attempt to adjust to it, it felt like the differentials had an on and off effect." Sweeper tried to lie to Carlos.

Before Carlos could answer Sweeper turned to Takumi: "You want a 2nd run at this or should we just call it a tie?" Sweeper asked.

"No thanks you, a tie is ok for me actually." Takumi said remembering the race.

Carlos response was getting Sweeper and finding a more silent spot and begin getting some answers.

"Look here Sweeper, I wanted to be sure your car was in tip top condition!" Carlos said.

"Of course it was Carlos, what do you think about me and FD's?" Sweeper asked.

"Ok I'll cut right to the point, for friends you are a poor liar! I checked your car the night BEFORE this race and I checked everything from differentials to your wire system, the most essentials all prooved to be in ok order and would certainly not break. If the differentials were to break it would be at the start however you had FULL 4WD up until the end and that is a sign that they would NOT break during regular driving. So you were playing a few tricks here and I do not know what." Carlos was certainly angry about the matter.

"What makes you think I like spinning out in FD's? It was an accident!" Sweeper tried another lie.

"Stop it you are insulting me with that! Speaking of which I think you have gone soft..." Carlos said harshly but changing his tone to a more normal voice on the soft part.

"Me gone soft?" Sweeper paused for a while. "Maybe I have... But I got to go now." Sweeper left Carlos and jumped in the FD it was time to head uphill to the top again with the other 2 following them.

At the top they had allready heard the result and the tie declaration and Ryosuke was relieved.

"I dunno what made him suggest a tie but that is the best outcome for this battle." Ryosuke said relieved.

"Why is that Ryosuke-san! If it was that close he would have beaten that guy on a 2nd run and we would have won." Kenta sputtered out.

"You don't know him Kenta, he may have played that card and that chance once, I doubt he would come around to give it once more." Keisuke said with Kenta clearly listening.

As the 3 cars arrived at the parking lot on the top Jane and Keiichi were only partly satesfied.  
Carlos and Sweeper got out and approached them while trying to smile.

"It was a tie..." Sweeper started.

"Oh well, even if I sum this up and do the maths we still came out better than Project D since we bagged that win on Akagi." Keiichi sighed.

"What the hell happened?" Jane asked.

"My front differentals went bye bye at the end of the battle." Sweeper tried to play the same lie again only to see Carlos roll his eyes and begin to walk over to his GT-R.

"And you! I want a few words with the so called Brazil's craziest." Jane shouted out to Carlos who froze in his tracks.

"If you want to announce me by my nickname at least get it RIGHT! It is Brazil's FASTEST to you!" Carlos exploded as he walked quickly towards Jane.

"Whatever, who the hell gave you permission to take off and interferre with a battle like that?" Jane asked.

"I DID! Call me a solo driver or supporter of my best friend! Whatever happens I do not betray my friends no matter what happens and if I feel he might need my support I am giving it to him!" Carlos replied in the same harsh tone.

"Tanaka Miki, while I am settling this with Carlos have a look at Sweeper's front diffs. I want to know what failed on them, after all I helped him with a few details on the blueprints for those." Jane said and turned back to Carlos.

As Jane and Carlos were duking it out in a verbal battle Sweeper followed Miki and waited as Miki was under his FD checking the differentials.  
It didn't take long for him to come rolling out again and were about to give the obvious answer to Jane when Sweeper gave him a "Zip it" gesture with a zipper motion over his mouth.

"Not a word Tanaka, not a single word about that." Sweeper said and handed Tanaka a few dollar bills before walking away.

Jane and Carlos finished quickly with Carlos walking away clearly annoyed and partly delighted that Project S was finally over.  
No need to follow any more orders or do things the way THE OTHERS felt was the best way, Carlos was a partial team player but he had his own ways he liked to play on.  
Sweeper on the other hand had also gone out of the line by making a tie on purpose however he was trying to hide that behind the power of capitalism.

'So Tanaka, what was wrong with the differentials?" Jane asked.

"The differentials themselves were okay, but the gears from the gearbox that moves the belt to transfer the power to the front is quite worn down, no wonder the car defaulted to rear wheel drive and had part AWD." Miki explained and Jane sighed.

"Those parts were Sweeper's choice not mine. Well fine then inform him about it we are about to pack up and head back." Jane said to Tanaka while shaking her head.

Sweeper had on the other hand been approached by Sakura who were smiling.

"You said after the race now didn't you?" Sakura asked.

Sweeper got all sweaty and worried as Sakura begun to speak as now he was going to hear it, all the thoughts and his softness lately had been coming from this girl that was standing in front him.  
A very pretty girl he might add, and a girl that understood racing and had a love for cars, which was obvious as she owned a NSX and maintained it herself.  
And she was also a girl with some temper if you pissed her off, which Satake had experienced and that had made him lose a battle as well.  
Nevertheless Sweeper had realized that if there was any girl in the world he could have, it was not Gwen Forrester who loved her work more than him.  
It was not Iwase Kyoko who was desperatly in love with Keisuke, and who he had helped unite with Keisuke.  
No it was Tanaka Sakura, a girl with a temper and driving skill and a love for him as much as he had cared for her ever since he learned that Sakura had something for him.  
The thought of spending time with Sakura was close for Sweeper now, but it was all up to Sakura.

"Y-Y-Yes I-I did." Sweeper managed to say which was NOT like how he usually spoke.

"Well you told me to sit on it for a while and think it through, after going from one end to the other I finally figured out that..." Sakura paused.

"Aw come on and get it over with girl." Sweeper thought.

"I am going to ask you for a date... ON ONE CONDITION!" Sakura said with a great emphasis on condition.

Sweeper was relieved whatever he condition he could cope with it.

"That I get to pick you up for the date and not the other way around." Sakura smiled.

"Sure, I'll check around for a property in Japan or near the Tokyo area..." Sweeper said but was interrupted.

"I got one for you right here Sweeper, and no it is nothing like that goddamn dump of a shack that you have back in Istanbul." Chang said with a smile as he handed Sweeper a set of keys and a card with the address.

"How did you know?" Sweeper asked Chang.

"Team Venom allways looks out for its members you know, and we kinda spoke with Sakura as well and with Koji's help we managed to pick something out that would suit you both. Enjoy it, we can talk about the rent later on..." Chang blinked his right eye and disappeared.

In the background from Sweeper, Keisuke and Kyoko were standing and holding hand in hand.

"I suppose things do not allways turn out the way you expect them to turn out?" Keisuke said as he looked at Sweeper and Sakura.

"For us it took one crazy FD driver and a very weird bet. For him it took a whole racing team and a weird chinese bar owner." Kyoko replied.

The rest of the boys were breaking up, the race was over but the night was still young.  
And for certain people it was time to keep building on what they had achieved.

**THE END?**


	26. Epilogue

_Part one, The date:_

Sweeper had checked out the house Chang had provided and it was perfect, Koji had read his true tastes like an open book and with the knowledge Chang had gathered on him from all their encounters it was clear that Sweeper would need to change a few things if he didn't like to be read like an open book by his enemies.  
But even though the house was impressive, Sweeper was only waiting for someone special that night.  
He sat down on the couch for a while and seconds felt like hours but when he heard tire squelling and a loud Honda engine he knew that the wait was over.  
Quickly snatching the jacket and running out the door to see a woman behind the wheel of a yellow NSX.

"I told you I was coming over to pick you up didn't I?" Sakura said with smile.

Sweeper's response was simple, he opened the passenger door and got into the car.  
After Sweeper had closed the door and buckled up in the bucket seat, Sakura slammed on the gas and quickly got the car up to speed down the street.

"So what kind of food do you like? Chinese? classic Japanese? European? Mexican?" Sakura asked Sweeper as she dived through and intersection at a high speed.

"Whatever you prefer really, I usually tended to stick to military rations you know, that's what I eat most of the year weather it is russian or american. Although the russian tastes crap you still got to eat it. HEY Sakura, do you mind taking it a little more slowly!" Sweeper screamed out as Sakura dodged a car at a high speed.

"I thought you didn't mind a little crazy driving?" Sakura asked.

"There is a difference between race speeds and COMMUTING speeds!" Sweeper replied.

"Ok then, I will take it a little easier then." Sakura said and let off the gas and slowed down.

"But back onto the subject, I am sorry but I do not know where to get military rations if that's what you prefer." Sakura said.

"It is not like I prefer them, I don't know much about other types of dishes, aw well since I cannot get a certain black Skyline out of my head let's go with mexican food tonight." Sweeper said with a smile.

Sakura replied with a laughter as she knew Sweeper were talking of Carlos.  
The two rivals that had a hard time forgetting each other, weather it was race or friendship based.

"That is not a problem at all, I know of just the right place for that tonight." Sakura said.

Sweeper and Sakura didn't say a whole lot on the trip to mexican restaurant, but Sakura had been preparing a whole batch of questions for her new love.  
After all there was quite a few things that Chang would not tell her no matter how much she asked and in the end he had said: "If you really want to know, ask him yourself".  
Sakura quickly got a table for the two and they sat down, the waiter didn't use a lot of time to show up and ask what the two wanted to drink as she handed the two their dining chart's.

"I am driving so give me some mineral water, a cola or something like that for a drink" Sakura said.

"Well I stay off the alcohol of... umm personal reasons, I'll take the same." Sweeper replied.

The waiter went to fetch the drinks while Sweeper and Sakura were digging into the menu to see what they would want.

"No alcohol for personal reasons? Care to tell me?" Sakura asked.

"Well it is nothing really, it is a rule that I have been living by since I got into my current type of career. And it is a rule that has made a lot of employers surprised but at the same time happy. Because they know that I am reliable and do not skip them out for a bottle when I feel like it." Sweeper replied without looking up from the chart.

"What is all of this? This is so cryptic it might as well have been high level maths!" Sweeper said pointing at a few things on the menu.

"Don't tell me you have NEVER heard words like Taco, and Nachos before?" Sakura asked with a shocked look.

"Of course not, those are not common military issue you know, they PROBABLY do not come in tin cans!" Sweeper replied with a smile.

Sakura started laughing as it was clear that when it came to cooking Sweeper tended to stick to things on tin cans.

"What is so funny with that?" Sweeper asked.

"If we ever are to have a child, I am going to feel sorry for it. Raised on army rations the moment it gets off the bottle, man I know for sure that I am not going to let you do the cooking as green as you are in that field!" Sakura said while partly laughing.

"Heh! It got its traits you know, can be stored for years with no problems at all." Sweeper said and smiled while blinking his left eye.

The talk of army rations was interrupted as the waiter delivered the drinks and it was time to take the order.

"Have you decided on what you want Sweeper?" Sakura asked.

"Like I said, this menu is cryptic to me." Sweeper said folding his chart together.

"Allright then, then I believe this will be right for you." Sakura said to Sweeper before turning to the waiter "Give me the Nr 5 nacho's and 2 of the big Taco meals you have listed as nr 3." Sakura gave the order and the waiter did her notes and walked away.

"Nachos, what in gods name is that?" Sweeper asked.

"You will see, it is pretty tasty you know." Sakura said with a smile.

"I got a few questions for you while we wait for this meal to arrive, do you mind answering them?" Sakura asked Sweeper.

"This an interview and not a date? Heh, of course I will answer them unless you are asking for classified information." Sweeper replied with a smile.

"I have allways wondered what your real name is, your parents never named you Sweeper now did they?" Sakura asked.

"Aw damn, I knew that you would ask that question, yes my parents never gave me that name. It came with the territory after 3 years on the battlefield I was known to allways do a clean table when it came to enemies. And in the buisness the nickname is what people remember mostly and not your real name, so to keep my reputation and to keep assassins from making out my real name and address I tend to stick to the nickname. However just for you I suppose I can tell you my name, it is John Hellman although I have several others that I have used as aliases up through the years." Sweeper replied.

"So it is John eh? And you stick to your nickname for friends as well?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah and keep that tone low, I don't want a lot of people to know it. And yes I tend to keep it a little secret for friends as well, if my enemies were to catch them they wouldn't know it and that makes them less attractive targets for them." Sweeper hushed down on Sakura.

"Ok, McClintock also told me you had earned that commander title as well? Where did that come from?" Sakura was really on the offensive.

"That commander part... Well it is a joke that goes around, I never earned the title officially it is just something a few people in the buisness calls me and I don't really want to elaborate more on that now." Sweeper said and stopped as he remembered things.

"Why did you leave America in the first place back then and move to a lower class country like Turkey?" Sakura tried to press on a bit.

"Well after I was done with the US Army I really had no other buisness to turn to rather than what I allready knew. And that was fighting with a firearm on a battlefield carrying out orders and making the shots count. So I decided to get into the mercenary buisness which is quite lucrative if you are good enough. The main market was and still is in Turkey so that is where the biggest concentration of mercenaries are. I moved over there, settled in and have been there ever since." Sweeper said with a smile.

"What about the racing career of yours? Where did that start?" Jane asked.

"THAT is a really long story that will take quite a few hours maybe even days to tell. But the short version is that it started at the end of my army career with an M1A1 Abrams and it has moved on to a RX-7. Longer version involves that there was some downtime between jobs in the turkish mercenary market so to keep myself occupied I picked up racing, I purchased a Pontiac Trans Am as that was the only great car I knew of back then. I raced it on the streets and on a few race events but it was really clear that mr understeer was bugging me, I ended up gaining a lot of valuable car knowledge and purchased a Porsche 911, it was an ok car to drive at first but I had problems keeping up with others, in one race I ended up overspeeding into a corner and slamming into a stone wall and that was the end for that Porsche. I then went back to the Trans Am again that had recieved a lot of upgrades and had gotten slightly better in corners, but it was pretty awful to drive and racing wasn't so much fun. I drove that car in the first round of the World Cup and before I met Carlos.  
I then heard a lot of praise for japanese cars and I went out and purchased a Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R Vspec in Bayside blue, it was better than the Trans Am but it wasn't what I was looking for so I ended up selling it to McClintock who was driving a R31 GTS-R at that time and he had a lot of interrest in imports from Japan.  
That was when I ran into Jane after that sale, she told me to try the rotary route and I shelled out for a used model of the Mazda RX-7 Type RS from 1998, a series 8 RX-7 and that day changed my life forever since the first drive in that car. The 7 turned when I wanted it to, it took corners beutifully and it was a car I could drive seriously with no issues. And I am still sticking to that car even now as you know." When Sweeper was done with the story the Nacho's had arrived on the table.

"Interresting story." Sakura said and grabbed a Nacho and noted that Sweeper was observing her.

"So this is Nacho's? Looks fairly tasty." Sweeper said and gribbed a piece from the plate.

Sakura watched Sweeper put in the Nachos and she was tense if it was something he would like.  
Even though Sweeper didn't say anything, the act of taking more from the plate and the increased speed as well as the facial expression clearly told the tale on it's own.  
You didn't have be an expert to see that he liked the taste of it.

"This sure beats army rations by far... A lot of taste in these." Sweeper barely got out of his mouth before he put more Nachos in there.

Sakura replied with a slight laughter, seems like Koji had been correct when he sometime in the past had said: "The perfect man for you would be somebody just as crazy as you."  
Even though Koji was done with the whole acting in front of ladies thing he still knew a few things about it.  
And the friendly relationship that had been developed within Team Venom made it possible for Koji to share his knowledge on relationships with the rest of the crew.  
Team Venom had indeed been a few great years, but it hadn't allways been good times, the worst was the R33 GT-R race where the driver died.  
That would be a day Sakura or any of the team would never forget, only the ex member Sinjo would forget it.

The Nacho's disappeared quickly and it didn't take long before the Taco's arrived on the table and Sweeper was clearly puzzled at the shells.  
He watched Sakura pick it up from the plate and squished so it collapsed on the bottom centre and then she started eating it.  
Sweeper followed suit shortly afterwards and it was still very tasty.

"I think I'll do the cooking, or else all I can expect is army rations on tin cans when I get home from work or some take out." Sakura said with a smile.

"Or a mess at the kitchen that would probably involve the police and the fire department..." Sweeper continiued the joke and both of them bursted out in laughter.

The newly brought together couple finished their meals and headed home to spend the rest of the evening together.  
It was a splendid evening for the both of them, and perhaps the perfect woman for Sweeper in the end?  
That is a question that will have to be unanswered for now.

_Part two, the others:_

Project S had ended after the race on Akina and Project S came out on the top like Project D.

But unlike Project D, Project S had never betted on being a permanent racing team, the trucks and drivers were never friends of the drivers or organizers like Project D so any chances of putting Project S back together after disbandment wasn't very likely.  
They had come, they had proven themselves and now it was all ready for the marketers to take over.

Keiichi went back to his tuning garage like Jane did and the times that came prooved to be booming for them.  
A lot of people wanted the same parts that those who put themselves on par with Project D used.  
However some parts never went public like Sweeper's 4WD system, it was too unique to be sold out, however the early 4WD differentials were being sold by Jane.  
Not nearly the same performance but it gave the FD drivers that wanted 4WD an ok system to an ok price.  
Jane profitted greatly on the rotary market, after all her shop had specialized themselves on rotary parts and she was recognized for her special parts for rotary engines.  
Strenghtened rotor housings and things like that was what Jane knew the best, pushing as much power as possible out of a rotary engine, that was Jane's speciality.

Carlos on the other hand had to return home since the World Cup had now become increasingly popular compared to before and with all the newcomers and the tougher competion in the GT-Unlimited class it was time to think new and more power.  
But his plan was clear and it was time to revise the RB26 route, time to go the reinforced route and get bigger turbines.  
When the World Cup gets tough, it gets more dangerous and the next season would be for the true unlimited machines to show themselves, for the upcoming season with the passes NOBODY would bring their high powered cars.  
Because in some situations the power you had used on the street and on the tracks were not suited for the Touge.  
Wide gearing, lots of torque and the increased tire wear were all factors that would put high powered machines last, the key to winning was having the proper amount of correct engine power and knowing the cars balance point.  
Sweeper had been crazy to do the high powered route against Keisuke once, it would work against drivers of that calibre but if you were to face crazy people like Carlos or others with the correct configuration then you would be in deep trouble.  
Carlos and Sweeper knew this and that's and for them Project S had allowed them to test run their machines and fine tune their mountain pass configurations.  
One new rule to the World Cup on the Touge was added after the season had been proposed, the classes would disappear for the passes.  
Due to the detuning that was a clear thing between all the racers that semmed to meet at a somewhat similar power level.

McClintock headed home with his new tuning information and was preparing for the upcoming World Cup season with the mountain passes, it was time for him to start frequenting his own local mountain pass and figure out the final tuning for the suspension.  
For Chang it was a busy time ahead as well, he was going to reunite the Team Venom again and were preparing his own expedition to finish what he had started two years ago.  
Project S had had taught him that the R33 guy's accident wasn't his fault and Chang had finally gotten back his love for the passes the again and now it was time to meet up with the team for racing again.  
After all he had laid plans for taking back the title as "Tokyo's fastest" again, and that plan was pretty wet from rain...

**The End!**

------------------

**Final author notes: **This is it, I don't know how many of you have been reading this story but now it is finally complete and in record time as well.  
I suppose the boredom in Spain gave me a lot of time and inspiration to write this story to the end, and from the Epilouge I am sure some of you can see some new ideas for stories that is coming up.  
I would especially like to thank SouthSideSlider, Outlaw02, Nismodrifter Rossriders, and a few more that my memory fails me on.  
And finally a big thanks to all of you out there who took time to read this 26 chapter long story that is probably going to be longest on the record for a long time.

I could finalize this by rambling a little which I think I will do, looking back at when this was born and how stupid it sounded at first I must say it really tuned out well.  
But that is not the main part that I am looking back at, it is the time I have invested in this project, time and research.  
However the research is basically something I did not for the story but to stir my own curiosity for how the physics in cars works and stuff like that, and to think that I was one of those that hated physics in school? UNBELIEVABLE!  
Even though I have ALMOST spent half a year to 1/4 of a year on this, that doesn't mean that I am planning on quitting all of this, I am going to manufacture a few more, weather I will match Project S's 26 chapters is a totally different story.  
Contrary to other authors here, I do not ask for reviews on my stories, if you want you can leave one but for this story I have never really bothered with them so to speak, and I doubt I will be putting the "Please R&R" tag in my chapters anytime soon.  
As a summary I might add that for ID music knowers I am currently listening to Wain L, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the same song that is played during the first race between Takumi and Sudou Kyoichi.  
I feel it is a suiting song when it comes to wrapping up this story, and like they said in the movie "Mr and Mrs Smith" when you are at the end, you start thinking about the beginning.

Again, THANKS EVERYONE.


End file.
